


Drop Dead Gorgeous

by iamcatastrophicc



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-10-21 16:26:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 67,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17646233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamcatastrophicc/pseuds/iamcatastrophicc
Summary: Gee Way is absolutely drop dead gorgeous. After one week at his new school, he was already named one of the prettiest people in the school. He even had relations with one of the most popular boys in school, Frank Iero. Everybody loved Gerard. Except one person who would willingly put the 'dead' in drop dead gorgeous.





	1. Chapter 1

Gerard Way was a person that people drifted to. He was charismatic and charming. Every inch of him just oozed out confidence. He was only of average height and was a little bit on the chubbier side. He didn’t mind. In fact, he wore it with confidence. “More to love,” he always said. And he didn’t mind showing it off either. Sometimes he wore jeans and hoodies. Other times he wore skirts and crop tops that let his soft little tummy hang out just a bit.

He was a pansexual boy whose style ranged from Billie Joe Armstrong during the height of Dookie all the way to Regina George during the height of her high school reign. He was kind, everyone knew him as a great soul. He would pick flowers just to give them to the elderly lady next door everyday after school. He was a tutor and head of the ‘Students Against Bullying’ group. All he ever wanted to do was put a smile on anyone and everyone’s face.

He was the oldest of only two kids. He had a brother who was three years younger and a freshman in high school. Mikey was a little bit more shy than his older brother but thankfully Gee took him under his wing and took care of him. He preferred to keep his face into one of his older brother’s comic books, he wasn’t as good at making friends.

They lived with their parents in a little home. Their dad was a stay-at-home dad, he’s taken care of them and raised them all their lives. He loved them so much, he supported them through everything. Their mom was the breadwinner, she worked for a big company and was recently promoted, causing them to leave their home of North Brunswick for relocation.

They moved to Belleville, New Jersey just a few days ago. It was about an hour drive away from their home but they felt years away. They left their friends and school and they protested for ages. Their parents were debating what to do, they didn’t want to make the kids move, especially to make Gee go to a new school during his senior year of high school. But they decided that the promotion was just too good to pass up and they moved.

Of course Gee had called dibs on the biggest bedroom that wasn’t the master. It had the walk in closet and shared a jack and jill bathroom with Mikey’s room. The fourth and final bedroom was used by Donna Way, turned into a home office for her to do her work in with peace and quiet away from the occasional bickering that occured between her two kids.

The two kids were going to start their new school of Belleville High School today and no one was more nervous than them. Even Gee, who radiated confidence. He had never switched schools before, he never really wanted to go to a new school. He had friends that he was happy and comfortable with. He had a good life back in North Brunswick. But today he had to leave that behind. He had to get ready for Belleville High School.

“Gee, come on, I don’t wanna be late,” Mikey said.

Mikey was really anxious about starting a new school, he didn’t want to make it at all worse by being late on his first day.

“I know, I know,” Gee said.

It took him years to decide what to wear. He wasn’t sure whether to go with skirt or pants. Pink or black. He was confident in what he wore, he didn’t care what other people thought. But he was still just nervous. He finally decided on a pair of black skinny jeans with his black t-shirt and his favorite red leather jacket. He fussed with his bright red hair and smudged his black eyeliner before hurrying downstairs.

“Come on, Gerard, you have to eat before you go,” Donald said.

“I don’t have time,” he said. “You set up my lunch account already, right?”

“Yeah, I did, you should be good,” Donald said. “Come on, I have a frozen waffle already cooked for you.”

Gerard sighed and took the waffle before grabbing his car keys. He never really liked eating so early in the morning, it tended to make him sick. The nerves of starting a new school today surely wasn’t going to help at all. He kept one hand on the wheel, the other holding and eating his waffle while he drove.

They got to the school and saw the kids bustling around. They had gotten a tour the day before but suddenly the whole tour slipped from Gee’s mind and he didn’t quite know where to go. Mikey was frowning, trying to recount his steps from yesterday before he finally remembered where his first hour was and he walked off.

Gerard strut down the hallway, his head held high. It only took a few deep breaths before his confidence returned. People turned to look at him as he walked down the crowded hall. Two people, who had been previously arguing in the corner, stopped to stare at him as he walked up to them. The two were Frank Iero and Jamia Nestor, two people who were notorious in this school for their relationship.

“Hey, do you know where this class is?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, it’s right down the hall, second door on your left,” Frank said.

“Thanks, sweetheart,” Gee said before he walked off.

Frank looked at him in shock from the sudden pet name. His eyes couldn’t help but glance down at his ass as he walked away, which only sparked up another argument. Jamia and Frank weren’t even dating but they might as well be an old married couple. The two argued constantly, they didn’t even really need to have a reason to argue, they just always did. It was usually Jamia who struck up these fights, always having something to nitpick about what Frank did.

“Hi, I’m Gerard Way, I’m new here,” he said to the teacher.

“Ah, yes,” the teacher mumbled, fumbling with some papers. “I’m Mr. Carter. I have a seat for you in the back, I hope that’s okay. You don’t need to sit closer to see the board, do you?”

“No, I’m okay,” Gerard said.

“Alright, here, you’ll sit in the labstation in the back next to Frank Iero,” he said.

Mr. Carter led her to the back lab station and he smiled as he sat on his stool. Mr. Carter talked briefly to get them caught up on where they were at in their unit before he walked off when a girl in glasses urgently hurried in for help on a science problem.

Gerard pulled out his physics notebook, trying his best to ignore the prying eyes from curious students who were coming into class. He brushed his red hair behind his ear, doodling on the corner of the inside cover of his notebook. The seat beside him was filled up and Gerard was rather pleased to see the boy from the hallway.

“Hi, I’m Gerard,” he said. “I just moved here.”

“Hey, I’m Frank,” the boy replied.

He was a little bit on the shorter side with shoulder length brown hair. His arms were covered in tattoos, each one more beautiful and intricate than the last as they wrapped tight on his olive toned skin. He was toned but not too muscular so he didn’t exercise more than what was necessary. Gerard could smell the coffee and cigarettes on his breath.

“This place is pretty big,” Gerard said, trying to make conversation.

It was his last year of high school and Gerard knew that he could just keep his head down and polish off the year quietly but that just wasn’t Gerard. He wanted friends and he wanted to go out on the weekends and he wanted to go to parties. And Frank seemed nice enough, they may even have things in common when he looked over Frank’s misfit t-shirt.

“Yeah, it’s a little tricky to find your way around at first but it isn’t too bad,” Frank said. “I can maybe show you around a little bit later if you would like that.”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun,” Gerard agreed.

“And you can join me at lunch if you’d like,” he offered.

Gerard let out a sigh in relief. “Oh thank god, I was really worried about where I was going to sit. Thank you for that.”

“Yeah, of course,” he said. “I’ve never moved before but I can imagine what it’s like to switch schools and just be all alone.”

“Yeah, this is my first time moving and it’s pretty scary,” Gerard admitted.

“Really?” Frank asked in shock. “I wouldn’t have even guessed that you were nervous for a second. You looked like you were walking the runway down that hallway. You caught my eye, if I was going to be honest. Of course that caused hell from Jamia.”

“She the girl you were with?” He asked and Frank nodded. “Is she your girlfriend or something? Was she jealous of me or somethin?”

“No, she’s not my girlfriend,” he denied. “And I most certainly am single.”

And then he gave Gee that smirk that the latter knew all too well. The flirtatious smirk which usually occurred before the two would move into bed together. 

“I’m single too,” Gerard said. 

And then there was that connection between them, the small spark of sexual interest. The two locked eyes for a moment longer than necessary before it was ruined by the bell ringing overhead and the pledge of allegiance starting over the PA system.

“Here’s my number,” Gerard said.

He wrote down his digits into the corner of a notebook page before tearing it out and handing it to him.

“Call me sometime,” he said.

“Trust me, I will,” Frank agreed.

Gerard smiled proudly to himself as the teacher began a lecture. He was pretty boring in the way that he talked, Gerard found himself wanting to just fall asleep. But he forced his eyes open either way because falling asleep on the first day would look really bad. 

“He’s the worst, right?” Frank asked when class ended. 

Gerard chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve definitely had better. At least he doesn’t seem very mean, though.”

“He’s chill, his class is chill,” Frank said. 

Gerard smiled and packed up his stuff, walking out with him. 

“You need help getting to your next class?” Frank offered. 

Gerard opened his mouth to speak when the girl Frank had been talking to earlier came over. 

“Frankie, my locker’s jammed again,” she said. “Will you help?”

“Jamia, this is Gerard,” Frank introduced. “Gerard, Jamia.”

She smiled, holding out her hand. Gerard shook it as Frank sighed. 

“Her locker gets jammed a lot,” Frank said. “I have to help her get it open a lot.”

“It’s always done this?” He asked. 

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “The lockers go in alphabetical order so before she was here her sister was and had the same locker, it did the exact same thing to her.”

“Well, I’ll let you guys go then,” Gerard said. 

“Wait, where’s your next class?” Jamia asked and I showed her my schedule. “Oh, that’s nearby, right around the corner and there’s little snowflakes on the door, you can’t miss it.”

“Oh, thank you,” Gerard said. 

“Oh my god, you should sit with us at lunch,” Jamia said.

“I already invited him,” Frank said. 

“Yeah, thanks, though,” Gerard said. “I’ll be there.”

“Let us know if you need anything else,” Jamia said. 

“Yeah, I already gave Frank my number,” Gerard said. 

“Oh, that’s good,” she replied. “Alright, we need to go before class starts.”

Gerard gave them a small wave before leaving to go find his art class.


	2. Chapter 2

Gerard walked down the street, deciding to explore his new city. So far, he wasn’t the most impressed. It was just like half of New Jersey, dirty and run down. But there were some parts that seemed intriguing, like the bookstore that had the cat in the window. He definitely had to show that place to Mikey. 

He saw a tall metal fence and walked closer to find them enclosing a skate park. Nobody was in there as he stepped through the gate. There was graffiti on all of the ramps, dug into the ground like an poorly designed swimming pool. Some ramps were above ground and Gerard found a boy sitting on top of a half pipe. 

He stood back for a moment and watched. Gerard couldn’t see the face but could see the boy. The boy hung his feet over the edge, coffee beside him while he wrote in a small notebook. There was something about the way the sun was sitting on him, it was soft and peaceful and beautiful. 

Gerard stepped over into the dip of the ramp. The boy looked up and Gerard found himself looking at Frank. He smiled, a cigarette between his lips as he took his headphones out. 

“Hey, What are you doing out here?” Frank asked. 

“Just exploring,” Gerard said. “Can I join you?”

Frank nodded and Gerard climbed up to sit beside him. He put his notebook away, tucking it into his back pocket. 

“What’s that?” Gerard asked curiously. 

“Oh, nothing,” Frank dismissed, holding out his cigarette. “Want a drag?”

Gerard stared at it for a moment before taking the cigarette. He coughed when he took a drag, his eyes watering. 

“First time?” Frank asked with a chuckle. 

“No, it’s just, uh, it’s been a while,” he admitted. “Parents caught me smoking and it was hell so I stopped for a while.”

“Oh, well, I don’t want to get you hooked on this shit again,” Frank said, taking it back. 

Gerard didn’t say anything as he looked around. 

“How come you’re the only one here?” I asked. 

“It’s Sunday morning, nobody’s here on Sunday morning,” Frank stated. 

“That your board?” He asked, eyeing the skateboard with a design of a skull that was all scratched up from tricks. 

“Yeah, you ride?” Frank asked. 

“God no, I’ve got two left feet,” he said with a chuckle. “Trust me, I would just end up with a broken arm or something.”

Frank shrugged, looking over at the trees outside the park. 

“What do you think of this place?” Frank asked. 

“It’s alright, maybe I’m a little bit biased,” Gerard admitted. “I do miss North Brunswick, that’s where all my friends are and stuff.”

“At least it’s not too far,” Frank said. 

Gerard nodded, watching the way Frank played with the sleeves of his black hoodie. Frank looked up at Gerard, their faces only a few inches apart. Gerard waited for a moment to see what he would do but Frank just grabbed his board and hopped down. 

“Let me show you some moves,” frank offered. 

“No, I’m good,” Gerard denied. “Really.”

Frank shrugged and dropped his board down. He skated around the park while Gerard watched. 

“Hey, Frank!” Someone called. “I thought I would find you here!”

Gerard saw Jamia coming in, waving happily to Frank. He skated over and gave her a hug before pointing over to Gerard. Jamia sat next to Gerard, a cheery smile on her face as she took a sip of Frank’s coffee. 

“Frank is always out here in the mornings,” she said. 

“How long have you two known each other?” Gerard asked. 

“Kindergarten,” she said. “Yeah, I always shared my food with him at snack time because he didn’t have any. We’ve been best friends ever since. He’s, like, my ride or die friend. There was one time we were driving and got pulled over and he shoved my baggie of weed down his pants and told the officer he had a boner.”

“Why didn’t he just put it under the seat?” Gerard asked. 

“I don’t know, he said he panicked,” Jamia laughed. “And it was so dumb, he just had a small traffic violation and now he’s awkward trying to explain to an officer that he’s got a boner. I swear, sometimes I think he’s the dumbest. He’s sweet though, shyer than he likes to let people know.”

Gerard eyed frank, who was still doing tricks on his board. This only made Frank more intriguing in Gerard’s eyes. He really wanted to get to know Frank more. 

“Okay, so, we should totally hang out some,” Jamia said. “We could go out for lunch one weekend or hang out at the mall. You know what, Frank and I both work at the Dairy Queen down the street, come in one day while I’m on my shift and I’ll totally hook you up with a free blizzard.”

“That sounds awesome,” Gerard agreed. “Thanks, Jamia.”

Frank rode up to the half pipe and held out his board. 

“You’re up, Mia,” he said. 

Jamia smiled and took the board before skating away. 

“She’s really nice,” Gerard said. 

“Oh, yeah, Jamia’s the best,” he agreed. “But, Uh, tell me more about you.”

Frank began to play with his sleeves again as he looked down. Gerard smiled softly and reached over, holding onto Frank’s hand. The move seemed to surprise the latter, making him look up in shock while Gerard acted as if nothing was different. 

“Well, there isn’t really all too much to tell,” Gerard said. “I really like art and comics and fashion and superheroes. Got a brother and two parents. Used to have a hamster but she ran away.”

Frank looked down at their intertwined fingers as he blushed before he cleared his throat. 

“S-so, Uh, you, um,” he stuttered and Gerard gave a soft chuckle. “Do you, maybe, wanna hang out?”

“Thought that’s what we were doing right now,” Gerard said. 

“Well, Yeah, But Maybe we could go for food,” he said. “With friends! Like, we could…we could go with some friends. Not alone. N-not like a date. It doesn’t have to be a date, we can just hang out as a group with some friends. W-we can go to the movies, see that new movie about the superheroes whose…whose names I’m forgetting at the moment and i think that would be fun—“

“Hey frank?” Gerard interrupted and Frank nodded. “I would love to hang out, with or without your friends.”

Frank let out a small sigh of relief and Gerard squeezed his hand. Gerard loved the nervousness of Frank, he seemed so pure and innocent and sweet. He couldn’t help but notice how unlike frank was to him in that way.

“So, does everyone skateboard around here?” Gerard asked. 

“Not everyone but my friend group mostly does,” he said. 

“Maybe I should be learning, then,” Gerard said. 

“Maybe I could teach you,” Frank offered, his thumb gently rubbing over the back of Gerard’s hand. 

Gee smirked, nodding his head. Frank blushed, looking over at Jamia. 

“Hey, Mia, you wanna go to the movies with me and Gerard?” Frank asked. 

She came over with a smile.

“Right now?” She asked. 

“Uh, n-no, well, I mean, when are you free?” Frank asked. 

“Maybe this evening?” Gerard offered and frank nodded. “Is it just gonna be the three of us?”

“Well, I can invite some other friends,” Frank said. “Maybe Brendon and Pete.”

Jamia glanced to where the two boys were holding hands and she smiled. 

“Okay, well, I think that sounds like a plan,” she said. “Or, you know, maybe just the two of you could go.”

Frank pulled his hand away, his face turning an even deeper shade of red. 

“No, no, we can go with friends,” Frank said. “We can’t just leave everyone out. Hey, mia, Gerard likes fashion. You like fashion. Why don’t you talk?”

Frank busied himself by drinking his coffee.

“He’s so awkward,” Jamia laughed. “I think it’s just because it’s the first time he’s had a crush on a boy.”

“I-I don’t have a crush!” Frank exclaimed. “I don’t! Of course not! I-I mean, not that you’re bad, Gerard. Not like that. You’re not bad. I’m sorry.”

“Frank, it’s alright,” Gerard said. “I think that hanging out with a whole group would be fun.”

Gerard knew that Frank was nervous. He didn’t want to put any pressure on him and decided that hanging out as a group with friends would take the pressure off and make it easier on him. Was Jamia right? Was Gerard the first boy frank has ever showed an interest in? Gerard had assumed that frank was set on his sexuality but maybe he was just starting to figure it out. 

“Okay, That sounds like a plan,” Jamia said. 

Frank nodded, fidgeting with his sleeves. Some kids entered the park, skating around as they shouted and laughed. 

“Ew, the middle schoolers are here,” Jamia said. “We should ditch, Frank. We need to get you a cute outfit to impress Gerard later.”

“N-no!” Frank exclaimed. “No, we don’t. W-we will get something that I would normally wear to any normal event that I would normally attend.”

Jamia and Gerard both stared at him before deciding to just ignore it. 

“Well, I’ll be sure to wear something cute then,” Gerard said. “Maybe a cute dress.”

Frank turned redder as Jamia smiled. 

“You crossdress?” She asked. 

Gerard shrugged. “Sometimes. I don’t really think my gender should constrict my fashion choices.”

“I think you would look amazing in a dress,” she said. “Don’t you, Frank.”

“I-I mean, yeah, you’d look good in anything,” he said with a deep blush. 

“Thanks, Frank,” Gerard said. “So, I guess I’ll see you two later then?”

“Yeah, of course,” Jamia said. 

She gave Gerard a hug before walking away with Frank. Gerard’s eyes glanced down to Frank’s ass as he chuckled. He couldn’t help but think about how odd Frank was but how damn intriguing too. He couldn’t quite figure him out but damn was he going to try. 

Gerard began wandering down the street again, trying to find something new to interest him. He found the Dairy Queen shop, the owner unlocking the doors to start opening as tired employees waited to be let in. He noticed a plaque on the wall that said ‘Employee of the Month’ with Jamia’s picture on it. She looked cute with her little uniform and cheerful smile. 

Gerard liked Jamia a lot, he thought she was really kind. She definitely made him feel included, like he’s already part of their group of friends. Plus, she seemed to act as a buffer between frank and Gerard since Frank was always so nervous. 

Frank didn’t seem like that the first day they met but Gerard assumed that maybe he was having an off day that day. Or maybe today was his off day. Gerard couldn’t really tell quite just yet. He didn’t know which one he preferred, both sides of Frank were perfect. 

It’s been a little while since Gerard has had a real relationship, he was mostly used to hookups and one night stands. He was used to parties and kissing random boys or girls. It’s probably been two years since his last real relationship. 

Gerard eventually grew bored of wandering the town and headed back home. His dad smiled from where he stood over the stove making lunch. 

“Hey, did you have fun?” He asked. 

“Yeah, I’m going out with some friends later,” Gerard said. 

“You have friends already?” His dad asked. “That sounds fun, you should take Mikey.”

“Please don’t,” Mikey begged. 

“Maybe some other time,” Gerard said, rubbing his brother’s head to mess up his hair. “Anyways, I’m gonna go shower then get ready.”

He hurried up the stairs, excited to make his first impression on Frank.


	3. Chapter 3

Frank was not good with people. Especially when it came to romantic relationships with people. He’s only ever dated one person before and that was for a grand total of only two weeks. And losing his virginity…Frank didn’t even want to think about that. 

He didn’t really know exactly what to feel when it came to Gerard. Frank has always been straight, up until about last year. He wasn’t sure what his sexuality was but Gerard didn’t help to straighten it out at all. Maybe he did have a little bit of crush on Gee, he couldn’t really tell. 

“Frank, just pick an outfit,” Jamia complained. 

“What if he doesn’t like it?” Frank asked. 

“Who? Gerard?” Jamia asked. “I’m sure he’ll like anything.”

“He likes fashion, he knows more about fashion than me, What if I have bad fashion taste?” He asked. 

“You’re fine,” she said. 

The curtain opened and Frank’s mom poked her head in, sighing when she saw the mess of clothes. She looked tired and overworked. 

“Frank—“

“I know, I’ll clean it up,” he interrupted. 

“What are you two up to?” She asked. “Is that…do I smell cologne?”

“Frank is trying to impress a boy,” Jamia said. 

“Oh, who is it?” His mom asked. 

“No, no one, goodnight, mom, I’ll be home before midnight,” Frank said. 

His mom kissed his cheek before leaving. Frank and his mom didn’t have the easiest life. His dad left when he was barely a year old, it was hard for frank to see him on holidays and birthdays. Seeing his step-brothers really didn’t help. They lived in a tiny apartment, Frank’s room was technically just a closet with barely enough room for a mattress in the corner and his dresser. There wasn’t even a door, just a curtain in the doorway. But Frank doesn’t complain, he loves his mom and knows she works so hard to support him and keep him happy. 

“Come on, you were so good talking to Gerard the first day,” Jamia said. “Just do that again.”

“Yeah, But I was also high off my ass,” Frank stated. 

Jamia reached into Frank’s drawer and pulled out a joint. 

“No, no, I don’t wanna smoke,” Frank said before biting his lip. “Fuck it, give it to me.”

He took a drag before handing it off to Jamia. 

“You just need to calm down,” Jamia said. 

“I am calm, I am,” he said. 

“You’re not,” she said. “You always do that fidgety things with your sleeves when you’re nervous. Just chill.”

“I don’t do fidgety things with my sleeves,” he denied.

“You do,” she said. 

“No,” he stated. “God, sometimes I think you’re crazy.”

“You’re the psycho one,” Jamia retorted. “Always getting into crazy stuff.”

“Stop nitpicking me all the time,” Frank said before taking a deep breath. “You know what, let’s not argue tonight, okay? I’m already nervous, I need you by my side.”

“Told you you were nervous,” she mumbled before picking up a shirt. “Here, wear this.”

“No, ew, this is the shirt I had to wear to my dad’s wedding,” he said. 

“That doesn’t matter, wear this white button with some black jeans and your black leather jacket,” Jamia said. 

Frank put the outfit on and the two of them walked down to the movie theaters. Brendon was there, he was the only one able to come on a Sunday night. 

“Wow, you’re dressed nice,” Brendon remarked. “Are you wearing cologne?”

“Will you guys shut up about the cologne already,” Frank mumbled, making Brendon raise his eyebrows in shock. 

“He’s nervous,” Jamia said. 

“Who are we waiting for?” Brendon asked. 

Jamia was about to answer when the door opened. Frank’s mouth went dry, his heart booming in his chest. Gerard strode in with his head held high, brushing his bright red hair out of his face. He was wearing a black crop top with a pair of light blue skinny jeans (emphasis on the skinny), and a pair of black heels. And Frank stood here, practically whimpering like a dog. 

“Hey, I’m Gerard,” he said. 

“Brendon,” the other man said. 

And Frank tried to open his mouth to say something but all that came out was a little squeak. He wished he had smoked some more right about now. He didn’t want to be too high but right now he would do anything to not look like a drooling dork. 

“I’ll go buy the tickets with Brendon,” Jamia said. “You two get the snacks.”

Gerard nodded and the three of them walked off, leaving Frank still there practically open mouthed. He looked at Gerard’s ass, his mouth going completely dry. 

“You coming?” Gerard asked as he looked over his shoulder. 

Frank looked up and nodded before hurrying to catch up. They stood in the line and Frank wasn’t sure what to do. 

“I like your cologne,” Gerard said. 

“Thank you,” Frank said quietly. 

He wasn’t sure what was happening to him. He never got this way before. He’s never felt like this before. What was happening to him?

“So, What should we get?” Gerard asked. 

Frank shrugged, looking down. Gerard got the food and met with the others by the theater they were in. Frank followed shyly, eyeing Gerard whenever he wasn’t looking. Jamia pushed Frank down into the seat next to Gerard before he could rush to sit on the opposite side. He spent all the previews nervously eating the popcorn and thanked God when the lights dimmed so Gerard couldn’t see his red cheeks. 

But halfway through the movie, just as he was starting to relax, he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and pull him closer. Frank looked at Gerard, who just stared at the screen. He fidgeted with his sleeves, scooting a bit closer to Gerard. Frank could barely pay attention, just getting intoxicated by the smell of Gerard. Was that weird? That’s weird. 

Frank never wanted the moment to end. He could feel the warmth coming from Gerard. It was comforting. He tried to relax by reaching into the popcorn bucket for food when Gerard reached at the same time and their hands brushed together. Frank thought he might throw up and he quickly pulled away, standing up.

“I’m...I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” he said, earning shushes from nearby patrons.

Frank hurried down the stairs and down the hall, shutting himself into one of the stalls. He tried to take some deep breaths, calming himself down. The door opened and a few slow steps sounded on the tile floor.

“Frank?” Brendon asked.

Frank opened the door, sighing as he collapsed into Brendon’s arms.

“Oh my god, he makes me so nervous, what do I do?” He asked.

“Just calm down, Frank,” Brendon said.

“Do you have any pot on you?” Frank asked.

“No, you can’t be smoking it in the movie theater bathroom anyways,” he said. “Listen, you don’t need drugs. Just remember that he likes you for who you are, you don’t need to be so nervous.”

“Y-you’re sure he likes me?” Frank asked and Brendon nodded. “You know I’m not good with relationships, remember freshman year? I don’t want that relationship to happen again. Remember how bad it was? I hurt her, she hurt me. Maybe it was so bad because I’m actually gay and so it didn’t work because I wasn’t straight and--”

“I don’t think you’re completely gay,” he interrupted. “Listen, you had sex with her and from what you told me, you really liked it so you must be at least a little straight.”

“What if I didn’t like it? What if I just thought I liked it?” He asked.

“Frank, you told me you lasted seven seconds,” Brendon stated.

“Shut up! We don’t speak of that!” Frank exclaimed. “Oh god, do not let Gerard hear that. He’s gonna think I’m pathetic. I’ve never even been with a guy? How do you know who’s the...what’s it called? I forgot the term for it when you’re either the...penetrator or the...the penetratee?”

“Top and bottom,” Brendon said. “Just let it come naturally. Ryan was nervous about that too but trust me, the first time you’re together it will just come naturally.”

“You don’t have any drugs?” Frank asked and Brendon shook his head. “He put his shoulder around me. That’s like, third base in gay terms.”

“It is not,” Brendon denied. “Come on, let’s go back now because I actually wanted to see this movie and I don’t want to miss a giant chunk of it because you’re panicking over a cute boy who is actually into you.”

Frank nodded and reluctantly followed Brendon back to their seats. He sat in his seat, hands playing with his sleeves again. He took some deep breaths and was about to calm down when Gerard reached over and held Frank’s hand. His head leaned over to lay on Frank’s shoulder. Frank tensed for a moment before relaxing. Gerard liked him, there was nothing to be worried about.

But oh god, he’s never been in a gay relationship, what if it’s too hard? What if it’s too different? What if Frank isn’t actually gay? What if he’s just confused? What if Gerard just wants something casual? Frank wasn’t a casual dating kind of person. What if they both have different intentions?

Frank tried to push all his thoughts aside. He looked at Gerard, whose beautiful hair framed his even more gorgeous face. Frank could only imagine their relationship. The way they would be married and living together in a cute little house with some cute little kids.

Wait. Why was Frank thinking that far ahead? No, that’s weird. They’ve known each other for like two days. Frank shook his head, trying to push away all his weird thoughts.

“Everything okay?” Gerard whispered, looking over at Frank.

Frank nodded, clearing his throat. When the movie ended, Frank stood up so quickly he nearly knocked Gerard over.

“You need me to give you a ride home, Jamia?” Brendon offered.

Frank panicked, looking at the two. He knew they were doing this on purpose to give him alone time with Gerard. The two left quickly and Frank frowned as they walked to the lobby.

“I can walk you home,” Gerard offered.

“Y-yeah, um, yeah sounds...sounds good,” Frank agreed.

They began walking home, the streets mostly empty.

“You look really nice,” Gerard said.

“Thank you, s-so do you,” Frank said. “Are you okay? Like, cold? Do you want my jacket?”

“I’m okay,” Gerard said.

But Frank noticed there was something in his tone and he decided to give him his jacket anyways. Gerard smiled, pulling it tighter around himself.

“You know, you’re acting a lot different than when we first met,” Gerard remarked.

“Yeah, uh, well, I was high,” Frank admitted. “I’m a lot less anxious when I’m high.”

“High on what?” Gerard asked.

“Just pot,” Frank said. 

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his lighter and a cigarette.

“Want one?” He offered. 

Gerard nodded and the two stopped outside Frank’s apartment building to smoke.

“So, you live here?” Gerard asked.

Frank nodded. “With my mom.”

“Just you two?” Gerard asked.

“Yep, my dad ditched us to go start a new family,” Frank said bitterly.

He was at least speaking a little bit more easily now, all he had to do was get a little angry.

“I’m sorry,” Gerard said.

“Not your fault,” Frank excused with a small shrug. “Got a dick dad and two dick step-brothers.”

“Step-mom?” Gerard asked.

“Got one of those too, although she isn’t completely a dick,” he said. “She tries to be friends but usually it’s her just trying way too hard.”

“At least it’s something,” Gerard said.

Frank nodded and took another drag of his cigarette. He was more relaxed now, he knew that probably wouldn’t last for very long.

“Gerard, I had a shitty girlfriend,” he said.

“You’re not gay?” Gerard asked and Frank frowned. “Sorry, guess I just assumed too quickly.”

“No, I-I don’t really know my sexuality,” he said. “And my girlfriend isn’t shitty, I’m sorry. I-I don’t know why I’m apologizing. It’s our relationship that was shitty. It’s my fault. I’m not good with people. I get nervous and flustered and I don’t mean to but then it gets awkward and weird and--”

Gerard interrupted Frank by kissing his cheek. Frank blushed, not even knowing how to speak.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.

“Y-yeah, I’ll, uh, I-I’ll see you,” Frank said.

He put out his cigarette and went up to the apartment. 

“How was your date?” Linda asked, standing over the stove.

“Mom, I still don’t even know my sexuality, it wasn’t a date,” he said. “I need help with my sexuality. Mama, help me.”

Linda smiled and went over to hug him tight.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, running her fingers through his hair. “It’s gonna be okay and I am proud of you and will love you no matter what.”

Frank nodded, kissing her cheek.

“You need dinner?” She asked. “I was just warming up a can of soup. We can share it.”

“No, that’s okay, I just need to go and sleep, I’m tired,” he said.

Frank went to his room, curling up in bed to dream of Gerard.


	4. Chapter 4

Gerard showed his brother the bookstore he had found the other day. It was certainly interesting in there, quiet and quaint. Mikey, of course, immediately went into the corner to shove his nose into a book.

“You should go talk to that girl,” Gerard said.

“And say what?” Mikey asked without looking up.

“I don’t know, ask for her number,” Gerard said. “Come on, she’s cute. She’s exactly your type.”

“I don’t have a type,” he denied.

“Bookish girls are your type,” Gerard said. “Just look at her at least.”

Mikey looked up and eyed the girl with the blonde hair. He pushed his glasses up before looking back down at his book.

“Come on, just talk to her,” Gerard said.

“No, I can’t,” Mikey denied. “You know I can’t talk to girls.”

“Come on, you’re my little brother, it’s my job to help you,” he said. “This is your freshman year at a brand new school, you could completely remake yourself. You could be anything you want to be.”

“What I want is to read this book,” he said.

“Okay, well, I’m going to go talk to her for you,” Gerard said.

Gerard walked off before Mikey could stop him, sitting at the table with that girl.

“Hey, do you go to Belleville High School?” He asked and she nodded. “I just moved here, what grade are you in?”

“I’m a sophomore,” she said.

“That’s cool, my brother is a freshman,” he said, gesturing to Mikey. “He was a little bit nervous to come here and talk to you, actually. I’m Gerard, he’s Mikey.”

“Kristin,” she said with a small smile.

“Well, Kristin, I hope to see you around,” Gerard said before walking back off to his brother.

“I hate you,” Mikey said. “Stop meddling in my life.”

He put the book back on the shelf and stormed out of the shop. Gerard frowned, following him back towards the house.

“Come on, it’ll be fine,” he said.

“You always do this, Gerard,” Mikey complained, not turning back. “You always fucking do this. Just leave my life alone already.”

“Just one thing,” Gerard said. “One thing. Just one thing.”

“What?” Mikey sighed, turning around and stopping.

“Let me give you a makeover,” he said.

“Oh, yeah right,” Mikey scoffed. “Like I’m going to let you give me fucking strawberry hair like yours.”

“No, I won’t do that,” Gerard said. “Just trust me, okay? Just this one thing and I promise that I will leave you alone.”

“Fine but if I look stupid you’re paying to fix it,” he said.

Gerard brought Mikey into the house to the upstairs bathroom, grabbing a pair of scissors and the hair bleach on his way. He sat Mikey down on the toilet and began getting to work. He’s always dyed his own hair so although he wasn’t a professional, he wasn’t bad when it came to hair.

“Please don’t make me look like a dork,” Mikey begged.

“You already look like a dork,” Gerard stated.

Gerard played music, rocking out to the song while working on his brother’s hair. He finally finished and made Mikey put his contacts in without looking in the mirror before going to get some clothes.

“Okay, there we go, let’s have a look,” Gerard said.

He turned Mikey around to look in the mirror. He had dyed his hair blond, slicking it back into a quiff. He wore a black leather jacket with some black skinny jeans.

“Mikey, you look amazing,” Gerard said. “You should wear this everyday.”

Mikey stayed silent, clearly liking it but not wanting to admit it.

“Fine, I guess I’ll keep it,” he said.

Gerard smiled at his success before heading to the room he shared with Mikey.

“So, guess what, there’s this boy that I’ve been talking to,” Gerard said.

“You’re always talking to people, how many hook ups have you had since moving here?” Mikey asked.

“None,” Gerard stated. “I don’t know, he’s just different.”

“So you want a serious relationship?” He asked.

“No, no, just something casual,” he said. “You know I’m not really into serious relationships.”

“Does the boy know that?” Mikey asked.

“I don’t know, Frank is a little odd but I like it,” he said. “He’s really shy and cute. I make him nervous.”

“You make everyone nervous,” Mikey said. “And not in a good way.”

“Whatever,” Gerard said, rolling his eyes.

Speaking of Frank, Gerard decided to send him a snap, just a picture of him with a cute little dog filter. He loved seeing Frank, he loved the way he made him nervous. He thought he look absolutely adorable. He saw that Frank opened it and it took nearly five minutes before he got a response. It was of Frank and said ‘stupid’. Gerard immediately received a second snap that said ‘I didn’t mean to send that’ over a black picture. Frank started typing before he stopped. Gerard sent another picture of himself that said “you're cute.”

“You should talk to that girl, she’s a sophomore at Belleville high,” Gerard suggested.

“You promised you would stop meddling,” Mikey said.

“I’m not meddling, I’m just suggesting,” he said. “Fine, you know what, I will shut up and not say anything more about it.”

He just hoped that this makeover would give him some confidence. He’s always tried to help his brother with his confidence, he wanted him to be more certain in himself. 

“So, have you and Frank kissed yet?” Mikey asked.

“No, I-I’m actually taking things kind of slow,” he said. “I don’t know, it’s weird. I’ve never really taken things slow but he’s just nervous and gets kinda scared around me sometimes.”

“You must really like him, then,” Mikey said. “Like, actually, properly like him.”

“I mean, yeah, I like him and all but it’s nothing serious,” Gerard said. “Maybe we can be, like, friends with benefits or something.”

“If he really gets nervous about it then I think he might like you and want something more than just friends with benefits,” he said.

Gerard shook his head, tapping through stories on snapchat. 

The next day Mikey wore the same outfit. Gerard noticed that he hesitated before walking into the school. He found Jamia waiting by his locker.

“Hey,” Gerard said. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, just wondering if you wanted to hang this Saturday,” she said. “A bunch of us were going to the skatepark and I wanted to invite you.”

“That sounds good, is Frank gonna be there, by any chance?” He asked.

“Yes he will,” Jamia said. “And there will be some pot so he’ll be more relaxed. He just really likes you and gets really nervous around you.”

“I think it’s cute,” he said. “Well, I can’t wait until I get to see him again. I like him a lot too.”

“You know, I know it may be kind of annoying but you’ve gotta take things slow with Frank,” Jamia said. “He just gets nervous and stuff. And...he didn’t have a very good relationship last time. He has barely talked to anyone outside of our friend group since then. It’s sad, I want something better from him. He should be happy.”

“I kind of knew I would have to take things slow, he’s a very fidgety person,” he said. “What exactly happened with his last girlfriend?”

“They dated but, you know, Frank was really awkward and decided they should just be friends the day after they had sex,” she said. “It’s kind of this unspoken thing to lose your virginity at homecoming as a freshman and the two felt really pressured to do it and they did and afterwards I think Frank just got a little freaked out, especially since it wasn’t the best sex, and ended things with her.”

“Not the best sex?” Gerard asked curiously.

“Well, you can’t expect a little virgin fourteen year old to exactly last the longest time,” Jamia said and Gerard nodded. “Don’t tell him I told you that.”

Gerard nodded and Frank walked over.

“Hey, so, um, Mia, um,” Frank stuttered, glancing at Gerard. 

“I was just inviting Gerard to come and hang out with us this weekend,” Jamia said. “And he agreed so it is going to be a lot of fun. We can all just hang around at the park.”

“Yeah, yeah, s-sounds good,” Frank said.

“This is gonna be awesome,” Gerard said. “Maybe a nice excuse to wear a miniskirt.”

Frank visibly stiffened in surprise.

“We totally need to go shopping together,” Jamia said.

Gerard nodded, opening his locker to grab his physics textbook.

“Wanna walk to class together, Frankie?” Gerard asked.

Frank nodded, playing with his sleeves.

“Alright, I’ll see you two later at lunch then,” Jamia said.

The two left, going down the hall together.

“I’m really excited about going to the park this weekend,” Gerard said. “Although, maybe we can hang out alone some other time, too.”

“Oh, yeah, um, I-I think that would be nice,” he said.

“I would love to get to know you better,” Gerard said. 

Frank nodded but Gerard pulled him aside when he saw Mikey in the hall.

“Wow, is that Mikey?” Frank asked.

“Yeah, I gave him a makeover yesterday,” he said.

Mikey stood by the lockers nervously before walking up to Kristin. Gerard watched the interaction with a proud smile, thankful that Kristin seemed to be kind. Mikey pointed to the novel she was holding, making a small remark. Leave it to Mikey to use books as a conversation starter.

“How do you think it’s going?” Gerard asked. “It looks like it’s going nice. You think it’s going nice.”

Frank didn’t say anything and Gerard looked over.

“Y-you’re standing close,” Frank said shyly.

Gerard smirked and took a small step closer, making the smaller boy squeak nervously. Maybe Gerard was a bitch for torturing him like this but he hoped that maybe it would help make him less nervous around him, he would maybe get used to it.

“Oh no, Mikey’s stumbling over his words,” Gerard sighed when he looked back. “I can even see that from here.”

“A-are you, going to help?” He asked.

“No, I think that he should try and do this on his own,” Gerard said. “He needs to get his confidence up and sometimes the mama bird has to push the baby out of the nest.”

Mikey walked off, his face completely red. Gerard sighed, hoping that it went better than it actually looked. Maybe it did go better, hopefully she was a huge book nerd like Mikey and they actually hit it off.

“Alright then, Frank, let’s go to class,” Gerard said.

They walked to class together, Frank a little step behind. They sat at their seats near the back of the lab.

“So, looks like we got here a little bit early,” Gerard said. “I guess that gives us some time to chat.”

“Chat...y-yeah, we can chat,” he said. “D-do you...do you need help u-unpacking?”

“Is this your excuse to try and get into my underwear drawer?” Gerard teased, making Frank squeak and shake his head. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. That’s really sweet of you but I’m okay, we’ve got almost all of it unpacked already. Although, there is one thing that I can get from you.”

“Y-yeah?” Frank asked as he leaned a little bit closer.

“You’re stepping on my foot,” Gerard stated.

Frank looked down and jumped back.

“I-i’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to. I thought my foot was on the little shelf of the lab bench. A-apparently I was wrong. I-I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s not that big of a deal,” he said. “We should really hang out alone, maybe you can teacher me how to be a cool skater boy, do you listen to Avril Lavigne? I can be your ballerina if you’ll be my skater boy.”

Frank blushed and looked down.

“D-do you actually do ballet?” He asked.

“No but I can dress up in a little skirt and tights if you really want me to,” Gerard said.

Frank blushed, looking away. Gerard was about to say more when the bell rang and cut him off, signaling the beginning of class.


	5. Chapter 5

Gerard made sure to wear one of the best skirts he owned. He wanted to impress Frank. He knew it really wouldn’t take much but it didn’t matter to him. The black mini skirt hugged his ass in the perfect way. He also had a white t-shirt tucked into it and a light blue denim jacket. 

“Why are you dressed up so nice?” Mikey asked, looking up from his book.

“I am seeing Frank today,” he said. “We are gonna hang out with some of his friends. What do you think? Do I look okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Mikey said, going back to focus on the novel he was in the middle of.

Gerard put on some eyeliner before going downstairs. He had permission to borrow his dad’s car, taking it to the skate park where they said they would meet up. Everyone was there already, smoking joints in the corner. Frank immediately froze when he saw Gerard, his face turning a bit red.

“Hey, what’d I miss?” Gerard asked.

“Let me introduce you to everyone,” Jamia said. “This is Gerard. Gerard, this is Pete, Ryan, Josh, Debby, and you already know Brendon.”

“Hey,” Gerard said with a small wave.

“That is the cutest skirt,” Debby said.

“Thank you, bought it online,” Gerard said.

“Really? Online shopping makes me so nervous,” Jamia said. “I mean, you never know what you’re gonna get. Which reminds me, we need to plan that shopping trip together.”

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “How’s it going, Frank?”

“Going good,” Frank said.

His eyes were a bit bloodshot and Gerard guessed that he had been smoking for a little while now, probably why he seemed more relaxed. He sat on the ground against the chain-link fence, dressed in a hoodie and black jeans. Gerard took the empty spot beside him, resting his head on Frank’s shoulder.

“I missed you,” Gerard said. “I couldn’t wait to come and see you again.”

Frank blushed but calmly said, “I couldn’t wait to see you too.”

Jamia smiled, patting his shoulder.

“There we go, we just need to get you high to talk to cute boys,” she said.

“Oh my god, Frank is the worst at talking to cute people,” Ryan said. “And now that he’s questioning his sexuality it makes it even harder, even more people to get nervous around.”

“Oh shut up,” Frank said. “No more talking about me and attractive people. I am an off-topic limit. A-an off-limit topic.”

Jamia chuckled, pinching Frank’s cheek.

“Oh my god, how many times have I told you not to do that?” Frank asked, batting her hand away.

“Chill out, Frank, it’s not that big of a deal,” she said.

“Yeah but I’ve told you before--”

“Will you two stop arguing?” Pete interrupted. “That is so annoying, just stop doing it already.”

Frank sighed, holding his hand out for the joint.

“Want some?” He offered, holding it out to Gerard.

Gerard shook his head, instead wrapping an arm around Frank’s shoulders. Frank stiffened for a second before relaxing. 

“So, how are all of you guys?” Gerard asked.

“We’re good,” Brendon said. “It’s nice to see you again, man. Let me introduce you to my boyfriend, Ryan. I love showing him off as my boyfriend.”

Ryan blushed, kissing brendon’s cheek.

“You’re the best, baby,” he said. “So sweet to me.”

“I can’t help it because of how cute you are,” Brendon said.

“Awe, so cute,” Gerard said. “Aren’t they just adorable, Frankie? Maybe one day we can be that cute together.”

“You two would be so cute together, I would ship you,” Jamia said. “Frankie, stop getting so nervous around him all the time. You two would be the absolute cutest.”

“I don’t get nervous,” Frank denied. “I’m fine, I’m totally fine. Gerard is good. Good. Um, he’s good. Great, actually. You’re just...just fine, Gerard.”

“I think you’re amazing, Frank,” Gerard said. “And you really make it worth moving here.”

Frank blushed, taking a hit from the joint.

“So, how many of you are skaters here?” I asked. “I don’t wanna be left in the dust when all of you are boarding around or something.”

“Well, me and Frank, you already know that,” Jamia said. “And everyone skates here besides Ryan.”

“Got fragile bones,” Ryan said. “Broken my leg, both my wrists and my left arm twice in two different spots. It’s definitely better for me to just stay away from boarding altogether.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Gerard said with a small chuckle. “I guess it’ll be good that I’ll have someone to hang out with while everyone else is off doing tricks.”

“I’m not skating anymore either, not since I found out about my little bundle of joy,” Debby said, resting a hand on her stomach. 

The notion surprised Gerard as he eyed the stomach with the tiny little bump that he hadn’t noticed before.

“We met most of each other here,” Josh said. “One day I saw this beautiful girl doing a caballerial kickflip and I just about fell in love right on the spot.”

He kissed Debby’s cheek, making her smile.

“Are you all dating each other?” Gerard joked.

“Well, there’s Debby and Josh, Brendon and Ryan,” Jamia said. “And, no, nevermind. Are you still dating that one girl, Pete?”

“Nope, I am currently single and happy,” Pete stated. “I prefer being single and free to do whatever and whoever I want.”

“I think relationships are great,” Gerard said, squeezing Frank’s shoulders.

“Are you in a relationship, Gerard?” Jamia asked. “Probably not because you keep flirting with Frank. Hopefully not. What about you, though? Best relationship? Worst relationship? Most recent relationship?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Gerard mumbled. “I have never really been a big relationship person. Not that I don’t want to be in a relationship but I just never really have. I’ve had mostly hook ups and friends with benefits types of relationships.”

“Ooh, a scandal, how many people have you been with?” Jamia asked.

“Oh, um, I don’t know, I don’t really wanna get into it,” Gerard said.

He didn’t think talking about the dozens of people he’s slept with would really put him on the good side with Frank. But he was different now, he wanted to change. Moving would be the opportunity to put his reputation completely behind him.

“This is a safe space, Gerard,” Jamia insisted. 

“Ignore her, she’s just, like, a little gremlin when it comes to gossip,” Frank said.

“Don’t refer to me as a gremlin, those things are ugly and creepy,” Jamia said. 

“Fits the bill,” Frank teased, earning a smack on the shoulder from him.

“You’re so mean to me,” Jamia said. “Oh my god, stop referring to me as ugly little creatures. We’ve talked about this, that is so mean. Stop being so mean to me. I’m serious, you’re gonna regret it one day. One day when you’re shrivelled and old and dying all alone.”

“I’m not gonna die alone because I’m gonna have your little gremlin kids here with me,” Frank said.

“Why would my kids be with you?” Jamia asked. “Would it be our kids or something?”

“No but I’d be the cool uncle to them so that means they would want to be there with me on my deathbed,” Frank said. “I’ll be the cool uncle that takes them to amusement parks and gives them candy when you’re not looking.”

Jamia rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything more.

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “Because I won’t have ugly gremlin kids, I’ll have the cutest kids in the world. Cuter than the Gerber baby.”

“Ooh, that’s gonna be a tough level to beat,” Debby said. “The Gerber baby is adorable.”

“But our baby is going to be the cutest, far cuter than the Gerber baby,” Josh said.

Debby smiled, kissing his cheek.

“So, how far along are you?” Gerard asked.

“I am four months,” Debby said. “We are having a little boy.”

“Oh, that’s so cute,” Gerard said. 

He’s never actually met someone with a teen pregnancy but they seemed excited so Gerard decided that he would act supportive towards them, even though he thought it was a little weird that the two of them weren’t scared or worried or upset.

“We’re naming him Ryan,” Josh said. “Because we’re gonna get married after high school and she’s gonna take my name and Ryan would be her maiden name.”

“Oh, that’s sweet,” Gerard said. “If I had a kid I would want to give them a really unique, cool name. Gerard is not a cool name. What would you name your child, Frank?”

“Probably name a daughter after my grandma,” Frank said. “And a boy...i don’t know. We have a tradition in my family to name all the boys Frank. I’m Frank III. I definitely do not want to name my son Frank, especially not after my father.”

Gerard wanted to ask more about his dad when someone walked up to the group of kids.

“Hey, I’m looking for Gerard,” he said.

Gerard looked up, frowning in confusion. What could some stranger want with him?

“I’m Gerard,” he said.

“I heard you could hook me up with...you know, a BJ or something,” the boy said. “I’ve got twenty bucks.”

He looked about a year younger than Gerard, wearing baggy pants and a thrasher shirt.

“Yeah, sorry, kid, you’ve got the wrong guy,” Gerard denied. “Not me.”

The kid apologized before walking away back to his own group.

“Whoa, what was that all about?” Jamia asked. “Why does he think that you’re a prostitute or something?”

“I don’t know, that was really weird,” Gerard said. “Probably just because I’m the new guy and they’re spreading weird rumors about that because nobody really knows me that well here.”

“Everyone knows you,” Pete said. “Everyone is talking about you. They are naming you the most beautiful person in the entire school.”

“Oh, wow, that is impressive,” Jamia said. “You’ve only been here for a week.”

“I don’t know, it’s okay I guess,” Gerard said with a small shrug.

“It’s so cool, I really don’t understand how you have so much confidence, it just radiates off of you,” Debby said, resting a hand on her stomach. “I hope that I can give that much confidence to little Ryan when he gets big, how do I do that?”

“I don’t know, my parents were just both really encouraging of me and who I was,” Gerard said. “They really didn’t mind what I did, just always supported me. Even when they learned that I liked to play dress up more than I liked to play with toy monster trucks.”

“I would support my child no matter what,” Josh said. “I am going to with little Ryan.”

“You handle the school hallways like a damn runway,” Pete said. “It’s really impressive, Gerard. I can see why Frank likes you.”

Frank scowled, throwing a pebble at Pete. That only made Gerard chuckle and kiss Frank’s cheek, making him blush deep.

“How could I not like someone who’s so amazing?” Frank asked.

“Man, that pot must be really working for you, you’re barely even nervous at all,” Gerard said. “I would say that you should stay high all the time but, honestly, I really like sober you, too. You’re really cute when you’re all nervous and sweet.”

“No, I’m not,” Frank denied. “I get all flustered and weird.”

“I think it’s adorable,” Gerard said. “You’re really adorable.”

“You are just the sweetest to him,” Jamia said. “Frank, you should bag him before he gets away.”

“Oh shush,” Frank said, pushing her lightly. “You know, you romanticize things way too much.”

“She may romanticize but anyone here can tell how cute you two would be together,” Brendon said. “Really, you two should go for winter kings at the winter dance.”

“Winter dance?” Gerard asked.

“Oh, yeah, it’s kind of like homecoming except not as big,” Frank said. “I don’t really know why we have it, it’s from some old tradition back when the school was first started.”

“So you’ve got homecoming, winter dance, and prom?” Gerard asked and they nodded. “Yeah, that is pretty weird. Show me some tricks, skater boy?”

Frank chuckled, grabbing his board and running off to the ramps while Gerard watched happily.


	6. Chapter 6

Gerard was coming over to his house today and Frank couldn’t be any more nervous than he was. His mom found it amusing this morning watching him go around picking at everything. 

“Hey,” Frank said when he opened the door.

“What’s up,” Gerard said.

“I-I made pizza rolls,” Frank stuttered out before mentally slapping himself for saying something so stupid. “Not much is up. You?”

“I’ve been good,” Gerard said. “Very excited to come by and see your place, though.”

Frank nodded, hoping that his crappy little apartment wouldn’t disappoint Gerard at all. Gerard sat on the couch and Frank took the opportunity to eye him up and down. He was wearing a pair of skinny black jeans with an old shirt and his denim jacket.

“So, tell me something,” Gerard said and Frank sat down next to him. “For someone so nervous around people, how did you manage to become one of the most popular boys in school?”

“I’m not bad with talking to people, j-just talking to people like you,” he said. “P-people who I like.”

“I like you too, Frankie,” Gerard said.

Frank blushed, looking down.

“So, do teenagers commonly get pregnant around here?” Gerard asked.

“There’s usually at least one every year,” Frank said.

“Yeah, that didn’t happen where I’m from,” he said with a small chuckle. “And baby Ryan is gonna live with Debby?”

“Josh is actually emancipated from his parents, he’s got his own apartment and Debby moved in with him about two months ago,” Frank said. “So, you know, they’re living together in a little apartment I guess. Learn from them, do not try using pulling out as a proper birth control method.”

Gerard chuckled, holding Frank’s hand.

“So, what do you get up to around here?” Gerard asked.

“Um, not much,” Frank said. “There isn’t much to do. No tv or computer or anything, that’s why I usually just hang out at the skatepark. I like to read and draw, I guess. That’s what I usually do.”

“I haven’t seen a house without a tv in a while,” Gerard said.

“Yeah, cable and shit is expensive,” Frank said. “No point in wasting money on it when I can just go and read a book instead. My mom’s never home to watch it.”

“How come?” Gerard asked.

“Oh, she works a lot to support us,” Frank said. “She’s got three jobs.”

“Your dad doesn’t pay child support?” Gerard asked.

“He did but after I turned eighteen he stopped,” he said. “Didn’t pay that much in the first place, the cheap bastard didn’t care enough to drive his Mustang over to our shitty little place to drop off a check.”

“Is your mom at work right now?” Gerard asked and Frank nodded. “So, we’ve got the whole place to ourselves?”

Gerard placed a hand on Frank’s thigh, making him turn bright red.

“Gerard, why did that guy offer to pay you for a blowjob last week?” Frank asked.

“It’s nothing,” Gerard said. “It’s just...I’ve been with a lot of people in my life. I guess people here heard about that and thought I was a...sloozy or something.”

“Oh, so you’re pretty experienced then,” Frank mumbled.

He didn’t think any less of Gerard, he just got more self-conscious about his own lack of experience.

“Is that okay?” Gerard asked and Frank nodded. “I’ve changed, I really have. It was hard to change back in Brunswick, I tried to but people still expected the same things from me. I was hoping for a fresh start when I moved here. I don’t want to be that easy lay anymore, I want something more.”

“Like a serious relationship?” Frank asked hopefully.

“Well, I don’t know, just something more than selling myself out,” he said.

Frank nodded, biting his lip. He really did want a serious relationship but it didn’t exactly sound like Gerard wanted the same thing.

“You used to sell yourself?” Frank asked.

“Let’s not talk about that,” he said. “Let us instead talk about how absolutely beautiful you are.”

Frank blushed, shaking his head. 

“N-no, I’m not,” he denied. 

“It’s adorable,” Gerard said 

He reached forward, gently brushing back some of Frank’s brown hair. 

“I want to kiss you,” Gerard whispered. 

“I-I think we should wait,” he said. “N-not that I don’t like you. I-I do. I just want this to be better than last time a-and maybe taking things slow would be better for us to work out better. I want--”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Gerard interrupted. “We can take things as slow as you would like.”

Frank nodded, playing with his sleeves. 

“Can I kiss your cheek?” He asked. 

Frank nodded, biting his lip nervously. Gerard gently held Frank’s chin, leaning forward to press his lips against the other boy’s cheek. Frank’s heart was pounding in his chest, he was sure Gerard could feel the heat rising off his cheeks. Gerard peppered soft kisses down to Frank’s neck before pulling away with a small smirk. 

Frank wished he could read Gerard’s mind right now as he stared into Gerard’s big hazel eyes. He wanted to know what in the hell he was thinking. Frank knew he wasn’t unattractive but wasn’t sure just how attractive he was. He thought Gerard was way out of his league, he didn’t understand why someone that was so amazingly beautiful could be into him. 

“A-are you hungry?” Frank blurted out suddenly. “I-I have chips.”

“I’m okay,” he dismissed with a small shrug. 

Gerard sighed, wrapping an arm around Frank’s shoulders. Frank began to question the gesture, does he do this with everyone? Does he flirt with a lot of people? Is Frank just on a list of many? He did seem to get around a lot, What if Frank wasn’t that important to him? Or what if all this anxiety was just getting to Frank’s head?

Frank really wished he could just smoke some pot and relax a bit but he was all out. Besides, he promised his mom he would limit the amount he smoked in the house or at least open a window. It was getting far too cold to pop a window at this point.

“How often do you see your dad?” Gerard asked curiously.

“Um, only holidays and birthdays,” Frank said. “That’s a good thing, though. The less I have to see them the better. I call them the Other Family. I hate seeing my Other Family. They live in a huge house on the beach with a dog. They just have this perfect life and perfect family and my dad just ditched my mom and I to live in this shithole apartment and fend for ourselves.”

Well, Frank was a little bit upset now thinking about his Other Family but at least he wasn’t a stuttering, babbling mess. Gerard didn’t want to interfere or intrude too much but he just wanted to get to know Frank better, both the good and the bad stuff.

“What about you? You got a happy family?” Frank asked.

“It is pretty good, I guess I was just one of the lucky ones,” he said. “Don’t have a dog, though, that would be pretty cool if I could.”

Frank nodded, playing with his sleeves.

“So, my mom is working the night shift tonight,” he said. “A-and, well, we could make some boxed mac and cheese for dinner.”

“We should order a pizza, I’ll pay for it,” Gerard offered.

“No, you shouldn’t have to pay,” he said. “I-it’s okay, we can just make the mac and cheese. I really don’t want you spending money on me.”

“That’s okay, it’s the first date so I’ll pay,” he said.

“F-first date?” Frank squeaked.

“It can be the first date if you want it to be,” Gerard said. “It can be chill and relaxed, we don’t have to go out to some fancy restaurant or some awkward movie. Hanging out just at your apartment is an easy, simple date. First dates are the worst, they’re really nerve wracking. Second dates are probably the best, this will make it so that way the first date is easy and the second date is even easier.”

“Okay, yeah, this can be our first date,” Frank agreed.

“So, tell me about Jamia, we’re going to the mall together tomorrow,” Gerard said

“Jamia is the best,” Frank said. “She’s been here with me through everything. Her family is like my second family. She can be a little nit-picky at times but she’s really sweet and she doesn’t have any ill-intentions.”

Gerard nodded, biting his lip. The small motion made Frank’s heart skip a beat, a small heating in the pit of his stomach that he wanted to forget. He was still unexperienced, the littlest things set him off.

“Gerard, d-do you think that I’ll maybe be able to get more comfortable around you?” Frank asked. “Nevermind, that’s a stupid question, you can’t answer that. I-is it annoying? All my stuttering and nervousness is probably annoying. It is, isn’t it? I’m sorry.”

“Frankie, it is one of the cutest things about you,” Gerard stated. “I’m serious, I love the way you react around me and I love your cute little red cheeks and little smile. You are the most beautiful boy I have ever laid my eyes on.”

Frank blushed, looking down at his lap as his fingers played with the hem of his sleeves. Gerard ran his fingers through Frank’s hair gently. He leaned forward, his breath gently fanning over Frank’s lips. Frank wanted nothing more than to just lean forward and kiss him as rough as he could. But Frank couldn’t muster up the courage and instead pulled away. As much as he did want to kiss him, he did want to take things slow. He really didn’t want to mess anything up like he did last time.

“Tell me when you get hungry and I-I can start cooking,” Frank said. “A-are you staying the night? You can get my bed if you want and I’ll take the couch.”

“Don’t be silly, we can just share the bed,” Gerard said. “I always share beds with my friends. It doesn’t have to be romantic or sexual or anything. It’s just soley sharing a bed as friends.”

“O-okay, we can share a bed then,” Frank agreed. “I’m actually kind of hungry. I’ll start making it now, I don’t know how long it’ll take to make the mac and cheese, I’m really not the best cook. I’m used to just microwaving ramen for dinner pretty much every night.”

Gerard nodded and Frank got up, standing in front of the rusty stove. He was halfway through boiling the noodles when he felt two hands on his hips from behind, a taller body pressed against him. And dear god, Frank thought he was about to lose his mind.

“Y-you should stop,” Frank whispered.

Gerard hummed, brushing Frank’s hair to the side and gently kissing the back of his neck, sending shivers down the smaller one’s spine. Gerard pulled away, leaving Frank feeling only cold and lonely.

“So, is this just regular mac and cheese or are they in the fun shapes of cartoon characters?” Gerard asked.

“They’re just regular, th-that’s the cheapest,” Frank said.

He could barely look at Gerard, he was just so nervous. Gerard tried to fill conversation the rest of the night and Frank stuttered his way through them until it got late.

“Is it okay that I sleep naked?” Gerard asked.

Frank’s eyes went wide, his mouth going dry.

“I’m kidding, I’ve got pajamas,” Gerard chuckled.

Gerard didn’t hesitate to start changing right in front of Frank. Frank, however, went into the bathroom to change. They laid down in bed together and after ten minutes Frank began to relax, melting into Gerard’s arms as he fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Gerard didn’t ever think that he would want something serious but right now he wouldn’t mind having a boyfriend. An actual, real boyfriend. He couldn’t stop thinking about that as he watched Frank sleep. Sweet, sweet little Frank. Maybe it was because Frank was taking it slow that made him feel that way. He wasn’t used to taking things slow but he really did like it. It really changed things up in the way that Gerard’s heart seemed to beat.

“Hey, sweetheart?” Gerard asked, gently cupping Frank’s cheek. 

He stirred awake, looking up at Gerard with the beautiful green eyes that Gee was so fond of.

“Hey, I’ve gotta get going,” he said. “I just wanted to tell you that.”

Frank nodded, sitting up.

“I’ll walk you out,” he said.

Gerard got changed, walking out to put on his shoes when the door opened. Linda walked in wearing a dirty waitress uniform, bags under her eyes and her brown hair falling out of its ponytail.

“You must be Gerard,” She said with a tired smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too, Ms. Iero,” Gerard said.

“Please, just Linda,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m glad that Frankie has found someone that he likes, he was really heartbroken last time.”

Linda gave Gerard a hug before going back to her bedroom. Frank came out, dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie. He walked down to the elevator, going down to the ground level together.

“Have fun with Jamia,” Frank said.

Gerard gave him a soft kiss on the cheek before getting into his car and driving home. He took a quick shower and grabbed some food before meeting Jamia at the mall. He gave her a hug, smiling happily.

“Okay, so, we are going to look for some cute dresses for you to wear to the winter dance,” Gerard said.

“Are you gonna wear a dress?” Jamia asked.

“No, not to this one,” Gerard said. “Maybe prom I will.”

They went into a dress shop, looking through the racks of sparkly, colorful dresses.

“So, do you have a date to this thing?” Gerard asked.

“No, I usually just go with friends,” She said. “Are you going to ask Frank? Oh my god, it would be so cute if you asked Frank. You could be winter kings together, it would be adorable.”

“I think I will, I’ll make a cheesy little sign and everything,” Gerard said. “It’ll be so adorable. And he’ll get all embarrassed and cute.”

“I’ve never seen Frank react this way around someone,” Jamia said. “It is adorable. He is the sweetest person I know, honestly.”

Gerard pulled out a simple, dark blue dress.

“Ooh, this one would look gorgeous on you,” he said. “Go try it on.”

She took the dress, heading off to the changing rooms. Gerard strolled around the room, looking at all the dresses that he would love to wear and own. Getting all dressed up was one of his favorite things to do, whether it was in a suit or a fancy gown.

“Gerard, what do you think?” Jamia asked, opening the curtain to her dressing room. 

The fabric hugged her curves perfectly, dark fabric standing out against her soft, pale skin.

“Oh, Jamia, you look absolutely beautiful,” he said.

“No, I don’t know,” she mumbled as she looked in the full length mirror. “I’m not really the biggest fan of the neckline.”

She bit her lip, running her fingers over the halter strap.

“Never been the biggest fan of halters, just feel like it gives me too much side boob,” she said.

Gerard chuckled. “Alright, I am going to find you something else that doesn’t have a halter. Any preferences on necklines?”

“I don’t think so, just not halter,” she said. “Maybe a strapless. I don’t know, strapless makes me nervous. I always feel like they’re gonna fall down, you know.”

“I wouldn’t know, I don’t wear strapless because I don’t have any boobs to hold them up,” Gerard said.

He brought Jamia a few more dresses, letting her try them on and critiquing each one of them. On almost all he just talked about how much he loved them. Jamia even convinced him to try on a few dresses too, all of which he looked fabulous in and did little model walks around the store.

“God, how do you look so good in dresses?” Jamia asked. “It’s actually, like, unfair how much prettier you are in all of these. How does one look so damn good? What is your secret? Did you get plastic surgery?”

“I don’t think attractiveness is completely about what you look like,” Gerard said. “It’s how you carry yourself. Your attractiveness is how confident you are, how you let others perceive you.”

“I think that is just beautiful,” Jamia said. “And I think you are absolutely right, it is about how we carry ourselves. I just need an ounce of your confidence and then I will finally have boys just falling on their knees for me.”

“Oh please, Jamia, you already have boys falling on their knees for you,” Gerard said. “You are absolutely gorgeous, trust me. How about we go look at some other shops before we go to the food court and grab a bite to eat.”

“That sounds perfect,” Jamia agreed.

The two walked out, heading into the jewelry store nearby. Gerard saw Jamia smile as she looked at a little heart necklace.

“Oh, that’s cute,” he said. “Is Frank a big jewelry person?”

“He wears rings sometimes and simple necklaces but that’s it,” she said. “I’m sure he would love something from you, though.”

“What’s he into?” Gerard asked. “What should I do as a totally cheesy winter dance proposal?”

“Oh, it would be so cute if you wrote a little song for him,” she said. “He loves music so much, he wants to be a musician.”

“What instrument does he play?” He asked.

“He wants to play guitar but he can’t afford one,” she said. “So instead sometimes he’ll just go to the shop and they’ll let him hang out there and jam for a little bit.”

“Well, I can sing so maybe I can write a cute little jingle,” he said. “That would be so cute. It can be like the movie where he stands outside with the big boombox playing music. It will be so romantic. His mom seems nice, very supportive of him.”

“Linda is the best,” Jamia said. “Totally makes up for his piece of shit dad. I feel bad, Frank is such an amazing guy and he deserves so much better than what he’s got. He loves the world so much even though all it ever seems to do is beat him down. He deserves more, I wish he could get better.”

Jamia stared at the little heart shaped necklace for a minute longer before pulling away.

“I do want to get a new charm for my bracelet,” she said. 

Gerard looked at her bracelet and saw three other charms. One was a little leaf, one was a music note and the last was a little heart. 

“Ooh, the little panda is so cute,” Gerard said. “Pandas are probably my favorite animals, especially the little babies. They are just so precious.”

“Each of my charms have a distinct meaning,” she said. “I want to get one for my grandpa, a little plane because he was in the Air Force. But...I don’t know, I’m not really a fan of any of the ones that they have here. Maybe I’ll check another store some other time.”

“Sometimes I wish I had my ears pierced,” Gerard said as he looked over a pair of sparkly diamond earrings.

“Why don’t you get them pierced?” She asked. “They would look really nice on you.”

“I’m just really not a fan of needles,” Gerard said. “I do not like needles. Otherwise I would probably get some tattoos, Frank’s are so pretty.”

“That’s basically all he spends his money on,” Jamia said with a chuckle. “He gets birthday money and stuff and usually just spends it on new tattoos. Have you seen him shirtless yet? He has this gorgeous nuke on his chest and his back is completely inked up.”

“I was so close to kissing him yesterday,” Gerard said. “I’m gonna kiss him the next time we’re hanging out together alone.”

“You better make it sweet and romantic, he loves that stuff,” she said. “And he wants a serious relationship.”

“You know, I think that I really want that too,” Gerard said. “I didn’t used to be now I’m thinking that I really do. Frank just makes me feel so differently than I have ever felt before.”

“Oh my god, that is so sweet, please date him because you two would be the cutest together,” she said.

Gerard smiled, leading her out of the store and into a shoe shop instead.

“Now, let’s see you work some heels,” Jamia said. “I bet you can fucking rock some eight inches.”

“Please, I’ve done ten inch heels,” Gerard said, flipping his hair.

“You definitely have to teach me how you do that,” she said. “I was wanting to get these one cute ass heels for winter dance but I’m not the best with walking in heels. Plus, I feel like it just gives me really ugly cankles.”

“You do not have cankles,” Gerard denied. “You are young and gorgeous and you are going to look absolutely beautiful at the winter dance. You should definitely win winter queen, you would look amazing with the tiara.”

“I’ve won homecoming princess freshman year, it’s not that exciting,” she said. “Have you ever won?”

“I’ve won at every single dance I’ve been to,” he said. “N-not to brag, or anything.”

“No, you should brag because that is really amazing,” she said. “You really are popular, I guess.”

“No, I wouldn’t really call myself popular,” Gerard denied. “People know me, I guess, but I’m not popular. You’re popular, you’re in the popular group at school.”

“I’m not sure how that really happened, the group of random skater kids became popular,” she said. “Maybe it’s just part of this trashy town that chooses the trashiest kids to be the most popular.”

Gerard chuckled, inspecting a pair of heels.

“You moved here because your mom got a promotion, right?” Jamia asked and Gerard nodded. “When promotions come, don’t people usually move to nicer areas, not shittier?”

“My mom actually works, like, a town or two over,” he said. “My parents chose to move here because this is actually where my dad grew up.”

“So this place must be pretty nostalgic to him then,” she said. “I bet it feels weird being here again for him.”

“Yeah, he says that a lot of it is actually still the same,” Gerard said. “We live just a block away from the house he grew up in.”

“Is his family still here?” Jamia asked.

“No, they’ve mostly moved away,” Gerard said. “God, these boots are just gorgeous. But, you know what, I have enough boots. I need to promise myself to not buy any more shoes.”

“But I never made that promise,” Jamia said, picking up the boots. “I wish we wore the same size, then I could just buy them and you could borrow them whenever you wanted. We could totally share, like, shirts and jackets and stuff. I promise you, my closet is always open to you. I love sharing clothes but I never have anyone to share with because all I’ve got is Skinny Minnie Debby.”

“Well, she won’t be so skinny in a few months,” Gerard said and Jamia laughed. “But thank you, and my closet is open to you.”

Gerard gave her a hug, kissing her cheek.

“Come on, let’s go get some food,” he said. “You know, before I impulsively buy half of this store.”

Jamia laughed, nodding her head. The two of them walked down to the food court, talking again about Frank and how cute he was.


	8. Chapter 8

Gerard walked into the skatepark, holding out the little bouquet of flowers. Frank was so shocked his skateboard hit a crack and he fell on his face.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Gerard asked, quickly running over.

Frank nodded, wiping the dirt off his knees.

“That was embarrassing,” he said with a small chuckle, a blush on his cheeks.

Gerard helped Frank up, giving him the flowers. They sat together under a tree in the corner of the empty park. Frank looked at the flowers, smiling softly. Gerard cupped his cheek, turning him to face him. He pressed his lips against his, tangling his hand into his hair. Frank whimpered, kissing back desperately. Gerard pulled away slowly, a huge smile on his face.

“Th-that was really nice,” Frank whispered.

Gerard grinned, kissing his cheek.

“B-but I don’t want to just kiss as friends or anything, I want to be together if we’re gonna do this” Frank said.

“Alright, will you be my boyfriend then?” He asked.

Frank nodded, blushing profusely.

“Good, I’m really glad that you accepted,” Gerard said. “Because I really like kissing you.”

Gerard gave him another soft kiss before sitting back against the tree.

“You’re so cute,” he said, wrapping an arm around Frank.

“Gerard, I don’t want to be awkward anymore,” Frank stated. “I want to be comfortable and not nervous around you.”

“Is there anything I could do to help that?” Gerard asked.

“Um, I-I don’t really know if there is, I’ve never really been in a real relationship before,” Frank said. “I mean, we’re just starting off but, like, I really hope that this works out because I really do like you.”

“I really like you too,” he said. “I know that I’m a really straight forward guy, sometimes that can be a little much for some people. I can try to back off, I know my personality can be a little big sometimes.”

“Maybe that would help,” he said. “But I don’t want you to have to change yourself at all. You are who you are and I like you for who you are.”

“I’ll try to tone down my personality a little bit, though,” he said. “I know it’s big and obnoxious sometimes. And, I’ll be honest, I like to see you squirm sometimes so I’ll stop doing that. I know that was a dickish move but I honestly just think that you’re just so cute.”

“You made me squirm on purpose?” Frank said and he lightly hit Gerard’s shoulder. “Yeah, that was a dick move.”

Gerard chuckled, glad that Frank seemed to be more relaxed around him and even joking around a little.

“I’m sorry, I really am,” he said. “You’re just so beautiful, Frank, and maybe I wasn’t really thinking things through completely the whole time. All I knew was that I liked you a lot and I did some stuff that were probably really stupid, like making you nervous.”

“That was maybe a little bit stupid but I guess it’s okay,” he said. “Just as long as you don’t do it anymore. I don’t think I look cute when I’m all embarrassed.”

“You always look so cute,” Gerard said. “Don’t worry about ever not looking cute because you always look cute.”

Frank blushed, looking down.

“And I will try to tone down my personality,” gerard said. “My brother says that my personality can be suffocating and I understand.”

“It isn’t suffocating,” Frank denied. “It’s maybe, just, a little bit different or something.”

“Different is one word for it,” he said. “Come on, it’s okay. I know that I can be a little bit much at times.”

“Okay, maybe a little bit,” Frank agreed.

Gerard smiled and kissed his cheek. He pulled out his phone, taking a picture of the two of them together.

“There we go, just so I always have memory of this moment when we first became a couple,” he said. “Maybe I’ll even set it as my new phone background, that would be so cute.”

Gerard set the photo as his background, laying his head on Frank’s shoulder.

“You like the flowers?” He asked and Frank nodded. “I wasn’t sure what kind you liked but I think lilies are really pretty so I got those for you.”

“Lily is probably one of my favorite flowers,” Frank said.

“Good, I’m glad that I was able to get that right,” he said. “I would have gotten you roses but I thought that maybe it would be too cliche.”

“I think the lilies are perfect,” Frank said. “My mom and I used to live in an old apartment that was a little bigger because she still had a bit of money from my dad from the divorce, it used to be the one that they lived in together. They thought they were having a girl because my...you-know-what wasn’t seen and they painted lilies all over the walls of my nursery. I grew up in the lily nursery for the first three years of my life before we couldn’t afford the apartment anymore. I loved that room so much. Sometimes I still miss it. I actually had a door.”

Gerard looked at Frank in admiration. This is the most he’s ever talked without stuttering. Frank had a soft, dreamy smile on his face as he remembered the old room.

“You lived there until you were three?” Gerard asked.

Frank nodded. “My mom got some money from the divorce but my dad made the most of our salary. My mom had to pick up more shifts at her jobs. And then more jobs. I was mostly taken care of by our neighbor a floor down while she was working. Eventually we couldn’t afford to live there anymore and we moved to the place we’ve got now.”

“Where’s your mom work?” He asked.

“She works as a waitress at two different restaurants and then she always works at a small store nearby,” he said.

“And how is working at the Dairy Queen?” Gerard asked.

“Oh, it is the best,” Frank said. “Usually Jamia and I get the same shifts so we just like to mess around a lot. Plus, I get half off on everything and then even seventy-five percent off a cake on my birthday.”

“Oh, wow, that’s a pretty good deal,” he said.

“Yeah, it’s nice because before we could never buy cakes for my birthday so my mom would just make one but now we get once that’s ice cream and decorated and super awesome and only a little bit more than a homemade box cake,” Frank said.

“It’s really nice being able to have an easy conversation with you when you’re not stuttering,” Gerard said. “Don’t get me wrong, it is adorable but this is nice too. What is the best kind of cake to buy at Dairy Queen?”

“My favorite is the oreo blizzard cake,” he said. “It is to die for, too bad you missed my birthday two months ago. Since it’s on Halloween, I also get a special Halloween cake. This year they decorated a round cake as a giant spider web. Last year it had this cool black cat on it.”

“Halloween birthday?” Gerard asked. “That is sick.”

“Jamia says that maybe it makes me the antichrist,” Frank laughed. “I just wish that it would give me powers or something.”

Gerard smiled, holding Frank’s hand.

“Why don’t you teach me how to skate?” Gerard asked.

Frank nodded and stood up, grabbing his board. The two went to the pavement and Gerard stepped on the board nervously, holding onto Frank’s shoulders. It wobbled underneath him, making him shake nervous even more.

“Shit, I’m gonna fall,” Gerard said.

“I’ve got you,” Frank stated.

Frank’s nervous, shaky hands reached out, holding onto Gerard’s hips. 

“Okay, now just push yourself forward,” Frank instructed.

“No, I can’t, I’m gonna fall,” Gerard denied.

Frank pushed Gerard, making him wobble and gasp. He held out his arms, trying to keep his balance.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck ,fuck,” he muttered. “Stop me. Stop me. How in the fucking hell do I stop this thing?”

Frank caught up with Gerard and held his hips to stop him.

“Okay, maybe we can do something other than skateboarding because I am really not good at it,” Gerard said. “We can go and make out in the back of my car.”

Frank blushed and nodded, biting his lip. Gerard took his hand, bringing him back to the empty parking lot. 

“Where should I put my board?” Frank asked awkwardly.

“You can just toss it into the passenger seat,” Gerard said.

Frank put his board there before he was pulled into the backseat by Gerard. Their lips locked and Frank was tense for a moment before relaxing into the kiss. Gerard tangled his hand into Frank’s hair, the other around his waist to pull him closer. Frank whimpered and after about ten minutes he pulled away.

“Maybe we should stop,” he panted.

Gerard looked down, surprised to see the bulge in his jeans. Frank turned away in embarrassment, going to get out of the car when Gerard stopped him.

“I can help you with that if you want,” he offered. “Ever gotten a blowjob before?”

Frank shook his head.

“Are you saying no you don’t want me to help you or no you’ve never gotten a blowjob?” Gerard asked.

“I-I’ve never gotten a-a blowjob,” Frank stuttered.

“Want one?” Gerard asked.

Frank’s face was nearly as red as Gerard’s hair at this point as he looked down.

“N-no,” he said. “Maybe I should go.”

“Do you want to go?” Gerard asked.

“Not really but I’m just really embarrassed right now,” Frank said. “I mean, we barely did anything and I popped a fucking boner. I didn’t mean to do this but I just barely have any fucking control because I’m really just not all that experienced and I didn’t want this to happen and I didn’t expect it and--”

“Frankie, it’s okay,” Gerard interrupted. “You don’t have to be embarrassed in front of me. I think it’s actually kinda cute.”

“It is not cute that I got a fucking premature boner,” Frank denied. “God, this is the most embarrassing first date ever.”

“That time at your house was out first date, remember? This makes this our second date,” Gerard stated. “So it doesn’t have to be an embarrassing first date. It can be an embarrassing second date but we all know that the first dates are more important so this isn’t really that big of a deal.”

“How do you always know the right things to say?” Frank asked. “Do you have a genius brain or something?”

“I’m no genius but I guess I just have good people skills,” he said. “Come on, Frankie, it’s seriously okay. You wanna know my first date?”

Frank bit his lip before he nodded.

“Okay, so, imagine me back in seventh grade. I’ll paint you a picture: chubby, short brown hair, acne, chipmunk cheeks,” Gerard said, making Frank chuckle. “Okay, so, I was with a girl at the movies and I was confident back then but not nearly as confident or as popular back then as I am now. She was one of the popular girls at school, the queen bee. She was so out of my league. She had blonde hair and was taller than me and skinny and, well, she was the first in our grade to get breasts.

“Anyways, I finally mustered up the courage to ask her out on a date and she agreed, I’m not sure why because trust me I was not very good looking and I was just a big nerd. But that’s besides the point, I’m trailing off because it’s embarrassing. My dad drove us to the movies and we went to see some superhero movie. We sat at the back and, well, I was not experienced. At all. I had never even kissed anyone. I didn’t know that she was the exact opposite.

“She started kissing me during the movie but I wanted to see the movie so bad that I wasn’t really paying attention to her. But then she started to get annoyed that I wasn’t responding so she put her hand on my thigh and rubbed it a little. It was barely anything but I fucking came in my jeans and then the next day everyone at school laughed at me.”

“That’s so sad,” Frank said.

Gerard shrugged. “I’ve sort of just stopped being embarrassed by things after that. I kind of just think to myself ‘is it really worth getting upset over?’ and if it’s not then I don’t make a big deal of it, it doesn’t matter.”

Frank nodded, looking down at the problem that was still evident in his pants.

“It’s your decision, you don’t have to be embarrassed by it if you don’t want to,” he said. “And we can do whatever you want to do. You can go to the bathroom, I can help you, I can take you home. Whatever you want, we’ll do.”

“Can I just go home?” Frank asked.

Gerard nodded, giving him a soft kiss before he dropped him off back at home.


	9. Chapter 9

Gerard was curled up in his bed, Frank sleeping beside him. They didn’t do anything together. In fact, Mikey was even sleeping in the room with them. Gerard scrolled through his phone, taking a picture to send to his friends for streaks. It was a picture of him and Frank laying together in bed.

_Patrick: We should hang out!_

Gerard smiled at the text from his friend back in North Brunswick. He hasn’t gotten to see any of his North Brunswick friends ever since he moved here. He did miss them. He was always going out to see them.

_Gerard: We definitely should:)_

_Patrick: Ty is throwing a party tonite, you should come. Maybe invite some of your new friends_

_Gerard: I’ll try to b there_

Frank stirred awake, looking around.

“Oh my god, I drooled on your pillow,” he said. “I-I am so sorry.”

“It’s really no big deal, Frank,” Gerard said, kissing his cheek. “Do you wanna go to a party with me later?”

“A party? Debby doesn’t throw parties now that she’s pregnant,” he mumbled sleepily as he rubbed his eyes.

“No, a party by my friend Tyler back in North Brunswick,” Gerard said. “I would really like for you to be able to meet all of my friends there.”

“I’ll have to ask my mom but I’m sure she’ll be fine with it,” Frank said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to a party, usually Debby is the one to throw them.”

Gerard smiled, kissing his cheek.

“Thanks for letting me stay the night,” Frank said. 

“Thank you for staying, I practically had to beg you,” he said with a small chuckle.

“I should go get ready before the party,” Frank said. “What time are we gonna leave?”

“I was thinking that maybe we could leave at, like, six and then grab some dinner on the way,” he said.

“That sounds good,” Frank said.

“You should stay for breakfast,” Gerard said. “Whenever we have guests over my dad always makes a nicer breakfast and I’m pretty sure I smell french toast.”

“Oh, okay,” Frank said. “I-I don’t want your dad to waste it and put in all this work for nothing.”

Gerard smiled and gave him a soft kiss.

“You guys are gross,” Mikey mumbled from his bed, turning his back to them.

Gerard chuckled, wrapping an arm around Frank’s waist.

“Come on, let’s go,” he said. 

Gerard got up, pulling Frank with him. Frank got dressed in the bathroom before meeting him down in the kitchen.

“Good morning, Frank, are you a coffee or juice kind of person?” Donald asked.

“Um, coffee,” Frank chose.

“Alright, I’ve already fixed up plates for you,” he said. “Have a seat.”

Frank sat next to Gerard at the table, looking at the plate full of fresh, hot food. Gerard handed Frank the syrup, smiling happily. They were pretty quiet during breakfast and Gerard walked him out when they were done.

“Seriously, Frankie, I can give you a ride home, it’s cold out,” Gerard said. 

“That’s okay, I’ll just board home,” he said. “I have been needing some fresh air anyways.”

“Okay, I’ll pick you up later tonight,” he said. “Be ready because I am gonna be wearing something super cute. Maybe my leather pants.”

Frank blushed, nodding his head.

“But then again, you always look cute so you don’t even have to try,” Gerard said. “I’ll pick you up.”

Gerard gave Frank a kiss before watching him skateboard off down the street. He went up, taking a shower before grabbing his hair dye. The red was starting to fade and he decided that recoloring it would be the best thing to do before he went to a party and saw all his old friends again.

The process took about an hour to color and rinse and then another half hour to dry and style it. He curled up in bed reading until it was time to start getting ready a few hours later. Gerard wore a pair of black leather pants, a black t-shirt that had the sleeves cut off and a black leather jacket.

“What do you think?” He asked, posing in front of the full length mirror in his room.

“Good,” Mikey said, barely even looking up from his comic book.

“You are no help,” Gerard said, flipping his hair. “I look amazing.”

He grabbed his phone and wallet before going downstairs to the car.

“Promise me you’ll be safe driving there,” Donald said. “No smoking, no drinking, no drugs.”

“I know, Dad,” Gerard said. “I’m gonna be staying the night at Tyler’s, I don’t want to drive back too late.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Donald said. “And make sure you make good choices while you’re there. Remember, good choices lead to good outcomes.”

“I know,” Gerard said. “Love you, bye.”

He grabbed the keys before driving off down to Frank’s apartment where he was waiting outside. He was wearing a pair of grey jeans and a black Steelers shirt. He got in, immediately looking Gerard over. 

“You look good, should I change?” Frank asked. “I-I can go change.”

“You look amazing,” Gerard said. “Don’t even worry about it.”

Gerard turned the music on, singing as loud as he could. Eventually Frank relaxed and even started singing along, too, even though he wasn’t the best at singing. The two laughed, seeming to be completely relaxed and having fun.

They arrived at the house, seeing everybody filtering in and out. They walked in, Frank trailing behind Gerard. Everyone was smiling and laughing as they hugged Gerard with choruses of how much they missed him.

“Wow, you were popular,” Frank remarked.

Gerard chuckled. “Come on, I wanna introduce you to some people.”

Gerard took Frank’s hand and pulled him down to the basement. Everyone knew the basement was the exclusive place at Tyler’s parties, you were lucky if you could get in.

“Gerard, oh my god, we’ve missed you so much!” Patrick exclaimed, hurrying over to give him a hug and a wet kiss on the cheek.

“Wow, okay, how much have you had to drink?” Gerard asked with a soft laugh.

“A little too much,” Tyler said. “Hey, man, it’s good to see you again.”

“Yeah, you too,” Gerard replied. “This is Frank, he’s my boyfriend.”

“Ooh, you’re settling down?” Patrick asked. 

“I told you, I’m a different person now, I’ve changed,” he said. “I wasn’t gonna do that shit anymore.”

“Well, I don’t think everyone’s quite gotten the word of that, some people were pretty excited about you coming,” Tyler said. 

“I tried changing back in Brunswick but nobody listened, now I’m in Belleville and I am a new person with a beautiful, beautiful boyfriend,” Gerard stated.

Frank blushed, looking down.

“Well, would you like a drink?” Tyler asked.

Gerard pulled Frank over to the cooler, grabbing a beer for himself. Frank pulled one out too before closing the lid. They sat on one of the couches, talking with everyone there. Multiple people came to hit on Gerard but he pushed them all away.

“So, I guess you really got around,” Frank mumbled.

“I’m sorry, Frankie, I was really hoping that they would all just kind of ignore me,” he said. “Honestly, I’m surprised they even remember me, thought they would’ve all forgotten about me or something.”

“You’re not a very forgetful person,” Frank said.

“That’s sweet of you to say,” Gerard said, kissing his cheek.

“Gerard, how is everything going down in Belleville?” Tyler asked.

“I miss this place like crazy but it is really great there,” he said. “Made new friends, some really great ones. And, oh god, you should see Mikey. I gave him this whole makeover and he looks amazing. I think that it’s really boosted his confidence, he’s been talking with a girl.”

“A girl, like a real live girl?” Tyler asked. “Not just a comic book character?”

“Nope, a girl who, may I say, is absolutely beautiful,” he said. 

They all caught up with each other and Frank even seemed to be making friends with them, which Gerard was glad about.

“Come on, baby, let’s go dance,” Gerard said.

“Gerard always feels like dancing when he’s kind of drunk,” Tyler said. “You’re gonna be doing a lot of dancing in your life, Frank.”

Frank, however, was also kind of drunk and didn’t seem to mind as he followed Gerard over to the stereo where other kids were dancing. The two were laughing as they danced together, showing the goofiest moves they had. But soon that goofy dancing turned into them kissing and grinding.

“Fuck,” Frank muttered.

He was hard and might’ve been more embarrassed if he weren’t so drunk. Gerard kissed his neck, pulling his body closer.

“You wanna go find a room?” Gerard whispered.

Frank nodded and Gerard pulled him up to the second floor. They went into Tyler’s empty bedroom, falling down against the bed together. Frank pulled away, panting heavily.

“I-I don’t want sex,” he said, not quite drunk enough to go all the way. “B-but I do...I wanna do something.”

Gerard nodded, kissing his neck. Frank whimpered, his cheeks red. He was nervous, letting Gerard take the lead.

“Relax, baby, and tell me if you want to stop,” Gerard said. “Seriously, I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable and I don’t want to push you to far.”

Frank nodded, tangling his hands into Gerard’s bright red hair. Gerard ground against Frank slowly, sucking on his neck. Music could still be heard, quiet and faint in the dark room. Gerard’s hand slowly snuck down Frank’s pants, slowly enough to give Frank time to tell him to stop if he wanted to. He didn’t.

Gerard pushed Frank’s jeans and boxers down around his thighs, a hand going to wrap around Frank’s erection. Frank gasped, his hips jerking up in response.

“You’re so pretty,” Gerard whispered.

Frank panted, closing his eyes. Gerard kissed down his chest, his mouth wrapping around Frank’s erection. Gerard worked his magic and within a matter of thirty seconds, Frank was on cloud nine. He moaned, hands tightening in Gerard’s hair as he came.

“God, you are so beautiful,” Gerard muttered, curling up next to Frank. 

Frank blushed, pulling his pants up. Gerard kissed his cheek, gently brushing away his dark hair. Frank’s cheeks were flushed red his heart still racing.

“I-I’m sorry, that was fast,” Frank said.

“You were perfect,” Gerard said. “Taste pretty good too.”

Frank blushed, burying his face into Gerard’s chest. Gerard hummed, holding his boyfriend close as he began to fall asleep in his arms.

“You can go back down with your friends, if you want,” Frank mumbled sleepily. “I know you really missed them and were wanting to hang out with them.”

“I would really love to just stay here with you,” Gerard said. “You’re the best I could ever have. The only person who really makes me feel like I’m having a great time.”

Frank smiled, laying his head on Gerard’s chest.

“Just give me a minute and we can both go down there,” he said.

“Take all the time you need,” Gerard said.

Frank nodded, taking a few deep breaths to compose himself.

“Gerard, I have a question, a slightly awkward question,” Frank said and Gerard nodded. “Who...who would be the top and bottom?”

“Well, I’m usually the bottom, if that’s okay with you,” he said.

Frank nodded, standing up.

“Come on, let’s go back and party some more, you can cuddle in bed with me whenever, you don’t always get to see your friends back here,” Frank said.

They went back to the basement, where their friends laughed and cheered.

“Well, if you guys wanted to play seven minutes in heaven then you could’ve just asked,” Tyler teased.

“Seven minutes in heaven?” Someone asked. “I’m in if Gerard’s in.”

Gerard looked up and saw Lindsey standing there. He smiled, getting up to give her a hug.

“Lindsey, you are always so late to everything,” Gerard said. “It is ridiculous how late you always are to absolutely everything.”

Lindsey giggled, pressing her lips to Gerard’s when he pulled away.

“Uh, Lindsey, this is my boyfriend, Frank,” Gerard introduced.

“Oh, boyfriend,” Lindsey remarked, an unhappy tone in her voice. “You don’t have boyfriends, Gerard. You don’t date people. Come on, are we not FWBs anymore?”

“Nope, sorry,” he said, sitting back down beside Frank.

“FWBs?” Frank asked quietly.

“Friends with benefits,” he explained.

Frank nodded, not too happy when Lindsey sat on the other side of Gerard and draped her legs over his lap.

“Hey, Gerard, let’s go dance,” he said.

“I haven’t seen Gerard in forever, ever since he moved,” Lindsey said. “Is it okay if we just kind of have some time to catch up? I mean, he lives near you now, you two can go dancing whenever you want.”

“I’m sure _my_ boyfriend can choose for himself,” Frank stated.

They both stared at him and Gerard looked back and forth.

“We can go dance a bit and then I’ll catch up with you, Lindsey, I’ll be staying over so I’ll be here all night,” he said.

Gerard took his hand, bringing him back to the dance floor.

“Well, I have never seen you act like that,” Gerard said. “Maybe those green eyes of yours are green because of envy.”

“I’m sorry, that was dumb of me,” he said. “I was just nervous. I don’t know. She just made me a bit uncomfortable with how close she was to you and she kissed you and everything.”

“I only have my eyes on you,” Gerard said, holding his hips. “And I wouldn’t look any other way.”


	10. Chapter 10

Gerard loved sundays, what teenager doesn’t? Just him, his boyfriend and a nice bed to cuddle in. That and the mail. There was a letter addressed to him, no return address on it. Gerard laughed when he opened it.

“Did you do this?” He asked. “This is hilarious.”

“Wasn’t me,” Frank denied.

It was a piece of paper with a note, letters cut out of newspaper and glued on like an old ransom note.

_Stay away from Frank. Leave this place. Go back to Brunswick. Go back home._

“This is just ridiculous,” Gerard laughed. “It had to have been Jamia. I need to show her this, she would find it hilarious.”

“Why are you laughing, doesn’t it feel weird at all?” Frank asked. “This is such an ominous letter.”

“This is clearly some kind of joke,” Gerard said. “I mean, how can anyone even take it seriously? It’s comical.”

He looked in the envelope and pulled out some polaroids. They were pictures taken of him and Frank at the party last night, dancing together, grinding and kissing.

“Okay, that is maybe a little bit creepy,” Gerard admitted. “Who was taking pictures of us?”

On all the pictures there was a glaring X drawn over my face with a red marker.

“Gerard, I don’t know, this just gives me a bad feeling,” Frank said as he sat up. “Who sends this kind of thing?”

“It’s a joke,” Gerard said.

“It’s a fucked up joke,” Frank said. “Seriously, I don’t think anyone would send this as a joke. I would take this seriously.”

“So what? Do I just move back to North Brunswick then?” He asked.

“Well, obviously not but just don’t take it so lightly,” frank said. “Maybe report it to the principal, show your dad.”

Gerard stared at Frank for a moment before smiling.

“What’s so funny now?” Frank asked. “This isn’t really a laughing matter.”

“Nothing, it’s just that I think this is the longest you’ve gone without stuttering around me,” he said.

Frank sighed, looking at the images.

“Maybe it was Lindsey, she hates me,” Frank said.

“Then why is my face crossed out?” Gerard asked.

Frank frowned before nodding.

“I still just think that this is a joke,” Gerard said. “I mean, come on, they even cut letters out of the newspaper. It’s funny.”

“It is not,” he denied. “It isn’t funny. Gerard, someone sent you an ominous letter telling you to leave with creepy stalker photos of you.”

Gerard rolled his eyes, pulling out his phone. He clicked through snapchat stories and smiled at Debby’s. It was of her and Jamia out buying baby clothes.

“Look at how tiny those socks are,” Gerard cooed.

“Gerard, can you take this seriously?” Frank asked.

Gerard sighed and put his phone down.

“Look, I would but it’s not that serious,” he stated. “Listen, if it makes you feel better then I’ll show someone.”

Frank nodded, kissing his cheek.

“Mikey!” Gerard called.

“No, not Mikey, an adult,” Frank said.

Mikey came in, looking at them.

“What do you think of this?” Gerard asked.

Mikey looked over the letter and pictures.

“A little weird,” Mikey said. “Kinda creepy.”

“See, look, I told you,” Frank said.

“Yeah, that’s a little bit odd,” Mikey said. “Are you just laughing at it or something.”

“That is exactly what he’s doing,” Frank stated. “He thinks that this is all just some kind of hilarious joke.”

“Gerard, I really don’t think that this is something to be taken so lightly of,” he said.

“You two are just crazy,” Gerard said. “I really don’t think this is that big of a deal. It’s just some stupid little note.”

“Of someone threatening you,” Frank said.

Mikey rolled his eyes and left the room, going back downstairs to his comic books.

“This is barely a threat,” Gerard denied. “It’s like some fifth graders getting into an argument over a boy and writing notes about it.”

“This is about me?” Frank asked.

“It says to stay away from you,” Gerard said. “What, are you the real father of Debby’s baby or something?”

“No, definitely not,” he denied. “I never had sex with her.”

“Ooh, maybe it’s that one girl you did have sex with,” Gerard said.

“No, no, that’s impossible,” Frank denied.

“Why is that impossible?” Gerard asked.

“Because...she’s not here anymore,” he said. “She was in a car accident last year, she passed away.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Gerard said. “She did? I didn’t know, I thought that--”

“No, she died,” Frank interrupted. “It was a very sad day for this town. A lot of people liked her.”

“You guys never spoke of her like she was dead,” Gerard said.

“Sometimes we just forget,” Frank said. “It’s habit.”

Gerard bit his lip, looking at the note.

“Well, okay then,” he mumbled. “Listen, Frank, if I thought this was a big deal then I would do something about it but I just don’t think that it is. If I get another one then I will tell someone but this is just one little note that isn’t a big deal.”

“Okay, fine,” Frank finally agreed after a moment of silence. “I’m not the happiest with the deal but I guess I will accept.”

“Okay good because I don’t wanna talk about this anymore,” Gerard said, shoving the note and photos into the nightstand. “I would rather talk about how cute you look.”

Frank blushed, shaking his head.

“It’s sunday night, I can’t stay over here for too long,” he said.

“Can you come over after school tomorrow?” Gerard asked.

“I wish but I’ve gotta work,” he said. 

Frank bit his lip, eyeing the drawer of the nightstand.

“Come on, baby, just push it out of your mind,” Gerard said. “I can burn it, will that help you forget about it?”

“No, do not burn or tear or rip it,” he stated. “This is evidence.”

“We don’t need evidence for anything, it’s all just a joke,” he said. “Really, Frankie, I know when things are serious, I don’t just take everything as a joke. But I really just don’t think that this is anything to make a big deal out of. Just trust me, okay? Do you trust me?”

Frank sighed. “You know I do but I’m just nervous.”

Gerard smiled, giving him a kiss.

“I think it’s cute when you get nervous,” Gerard said. “It’s gonna be okay, Frankie.”

Frank nodded, biting his lip. Gerard leaned forward and kissed him, pressing him back against the mattress. Frank’s phone buzzed at that moment, interrupting the two of them.

“It’s Jamia,” he said. “Her mom is inviting me over for dinner.”

“What time are you going?” Gerard asked.

“I’ll leave in a little bit, I want to spend a little bit more time with you,” Frank said. 

“Wish we didn’t have to go to school tomorrow so we could just spend all day together,” Gerard said.

“We should play hooky,” Frank said with a smirk. “Maybe hang out at the park and smoke some pot.”

Gerard thought that sounded amazing but he didn’t want to ruin his plans.

“That sounds amazing but maybe we can do it some other time,” he said. “I’ve got a Spanish test tomorrow.”

“Alright, I guess I’ll let you go to school,” Frank said and he chuckled. 

Frank looked back at the drawer and he sighed.

“Come on, Frank,” Gerard muttered, pulling it out. 

“My mom could help you, we’re really close and she’s helped me through everything, she could help you too,” he said. 

“Fine,” he said. “Let’s do it.”

Gerard drove them both back to Frank’s apartment, his mom usually got home a little bit earlier on Sundays.

“Hey, boys,” Linda said. “Are you staying for dinner, Gerard?”

“Mom, can we talk to you about something?” Frank asked.

Linda looked up from her bills with a frown. She took off her glasses, gesturing to the couch next to the table where the boys sat down. 

“What’s going on?” Linda asked. “Did you two get into trouble at the party? You’re practicing safe sex, right? You’re not here to tell me you have an STD, right?”

“Mom, that’s not what I came to tell you,” Frank said. “It’s about something else. Something kind of weird. Gerard doesn’t think it’s a big deal but, like, I don’t know. I just have this weird feeling in the pit of the stomach and I just want some kind of reassurance from an adult. I’m just nervous.”

“What’s wrong?” Linda asked. “Oh, is there a problem at school? Is someone bullying one of you? No amount of bullying is okay, no matter how little it may seem.”

Frank handed her the envelope and she frowned in confusion. Linda put her glasses back on and looked at the note and the photos carefully.

“When did you get these?” Linda asked.

“Just today,” Gerard said. “I don’t think it’s a big deal. It seems like it’s just a joke to me.”

“It seems like a sick and twisted joke but, then again, I’ve seen high school kids pull all sorts of sick and twisted jokes,” she said.

“Mom, this is serious, right?” Frank asked.

“Well, yes, any threat is serious no matter how minor it may seem,” she said. “This shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

“Gerard, I told you,” Frank said. “I’m serious, this is serious.”

“And you haven’t gotten any kind of message like this before?” She asked and Gerard shook his head. “No online message, snapchat DM? Any weird Instagram post tweeted at you?”

Frank frowned and tilted his head. “That’s...that’s not quite right.”

“No, nothing at all, it was completely normal before this,” Gerard said. “And I still think this is just some silly little joke.”

“If it’s a joke then it isn’t very funny,” Linda stated. “I would say that if you were to get another one like this then you should maybe go see your counselor at school or something because Frank is right, this just doesn’t really seem right to me, something just doesn’t sit well with me.”

Gerard sighed and took the envelope back.

“Mom, can you think of anyone who would do this?” Frank asked. “Like, who is the first person you would look to?”

“If I were in Gerard’s situation then I think I would look to maybe an ex or something, one of the weird kids in class with a crush,” Linda said. “You know, I was just watching this movie the other day about a nerdy girl who had a crush on a football jock and so she became obsessed and killed the guy’s girlfriend. It freaked me out like crazy, I don’t even know why I even watched it.”

“Where’d you watch it at?” Frank asked.

“Oh, a friend let me borrow it, watched it on the dvd player,” she said.

“So, what you’re saying is that in this situation Frank gets murdered?” Gerard asked.

“No, nothing happens to my sweet baby,” she said, pinching his cheek. “Unfortunately you are the one to be murdered.”

“Great, can’t wait,” Gerard muttered. 

“No one is being murdered because we are going to the cops,” Frank said.

“You’re not going to the cops for some silly little threatening note,” Gerard said. “I promise that if I get another one then we will go to the counselor.”

Frank nodded, running a hand down his face.

“This just stresses me out,” Frank said. “I am going to go take a shower, smoke some pot and then just go to sleep. I am so tired.”

“No smoking pot in your room, there are no windows in there and that smell lingers,” she said.

“I’ll walk you out to your car, Gerard,” Frank said.

The two went down and Gerard sighed, holding his hips.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he said. “I promise you that this is some big joke that will just blow over.”

“I really hope that’s true,” Frank mumbled.

Gerard caressed his cheek, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

“You’re always so nervous about everything, it’s gonna be okay, beautiful,” Gerard whispered. “I promise that everything is going to be okay.”


	11. Chapter 11

Gerard was trying to ease up on his personality a bit but he wanted to do the cheesiest, most romantic thing to Frank.

“He’s coming,” Josh said, smiling happily.

The door opened and Jamia and Frank walked into the school together like they always did. Frank stopped short when he saw Gerard. Gerard was standing there with a big sign that said ‘You’re the best part of moving to Bellville, I need a date to the dance, can you be that spot to fill?’

“Wow, this is just…” Jamia muttered.

Gerard held out a bouquet of lilies.

“What do you say?” He asked.

Frank blushed, looking around at everyone who watched them. He nodded, taking the bouquet. Gerard smiled and gave him a hug. People clapped before going on with their daily business again.

“Is this a little overboard?” Gerard asked. “I don’t care, I wanted to do something amazingly romantic for you. And we are going to have the best time at the dance. It’s not too late for me to ask, is it? I know the dance is coming up pretty soon.”

“No, no, it’s okay, I would love to go with you,” Frank said.

“Oh my god, this is the cutest thing I have ever seen,” Jamia said. “It is so romantic.”

“Gerard, this is seriously amazing,” Debby said. “Josh, why don’t you do this for me?”

“Why do you have to up the standards for every other guy here, Gerard?” Josh asked.

“Really,” Brendon agreed.

“I’m just doing something for my beautiful boyfriend,” Gerard said. “Something that he deserves.”

“Thank you,” Frank said, blushing as he looked at the flowers.

Gerard smiled and kissed his cheek. Gerard took Frank’s hands, pulling him away from the group towards his locker.

“So, you didn’t happen to get another note, did you?” Frank asked.

“Nope, completely note free,” Gerard said with a smile. “I told you, everything is fine. There was no piano dropping on my head while walking to school. No anvil, no nothing.”

“This is serious, Gerard,” Frank stated.

Gerard opened his locker, getting out his textbook.

“Frank, you can keep those in here if you’d like, I don’t want them to be annoying to carry them around all day,” he said.

“As much as I would love to show them off to everyone, thank you,” he said.

Frank set his flowers in there on the little shelf.

“You are gonna look so good in your suit,” Gerard said.

“Yeah, uh, I can’t really afford a suit or anything,” Frank said. “I just wear some jeans with a black long sleeve and a tie.”

“Well, you will look cute in that no matter what,” he said.

“Thanks, Gee,” Frank said before sighing. “I’m glad I don’t get so nervous around you anymore.”

“Me too, as cute as you are, I’m glad to see you relax a bit more,” he said.

“We should get to class,” Frank said. “Thank you for this, though. Thank you for everything. I am really excited to go to the dance with you.”

Gerard smiled, kissing his cheek. “Alright, let’s go to class.”

Gerard held Frank’s hand, walking with him to class. They sat at their lab station, holding hands under the table. 

“Hey, Frank, you dropped your pen in class on friday and I just wanted to make sure you got it back,” some girl said, handing him a pen.

“Oh, thanks, Alicia,” he said.

She smiled, going to her spot in the front of the class.

“A friend?” Gerard asked.

“Acquaintance, seen her at some parties and stuff like that,” Frank said.

Class started and the two took notes, Gerard kept occasionally reaching over to doodle on Frank’s notebook.

“I’ll see you at lunch,” Frank said when the class ended.

“Yeah, see you,” Gerard said, kissing his cheek.

He walked down the hall but stopped when he saw Mikey. He was talking to Kristin and actually seeming confident. Gerard smiled, wishing he could hear what they were saying as Mikey touched her elbow.

“You know, it’s creepy to spy on freshman,” someone said.

Gerard turned around and saw Alicia. 

“Oh, it’s just my brother,” Gerard said and Alicia nodded. “Is there something that you needed?”

“You’re standing in front of my locker,” she said.

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry,” Gerard said, moving to the side. “So, you’ve known Frank for long?” 

She shrugged as she opened her locker.

“We’ve been going to school together since kindergarten but I wouldn’t say we’re the closest,” she said. “We’re more of just class friends but not real friends, you know.”

Gerard nodded, glancing at the stack of newspapers in her locker.

“Wow, quite the collection,” he remarked.

“I like to read old articles,” she said with a small shrug.

“Well, that’s a little odd because yesterday I--”

“Gerard, I saw you over here spying on me,” Mikey interrupted. “Stop being such a weirdo.”

Gerard sighed and walked away. He went to his art class where he began working at his favorite table in the corner.

By the time lunch came, his stomach was growling. He sat at the table with Jamia, sighing quietly. 

“Hey, do you know Alicia?” He asked. 

“Oh, yeah, she’s been going to our school for a while,” Jamia said. “She used to have a crush on Frank freshman year, I don’t know if she still does.”

Gerard nodded, biting his lip. Frank sat down with his lunch, smiling happily. The others joined too and soon the table was filled. 

“You know, Alicia has a crush on you and I found a bunch of newspapers in her locker,” Gerard said. 

“That’s…did you ask her about it?” He asked. 

“She said she just likes to read ‘em,” Gerard mumbled with a small shrug. 

“That is a little weird,” Frank said. “And she is a little weird. But she’s really nice, I don’t think she would do that.”

“Maybe it’s just some coincidence,” Gerard said. 

Frank smiled and nodded but Gerard was a little unsure. He decided to just brush it away, pushing it under the rug. 

“So, You two should run for winter kings at the dance,” Jamia said. “I mean, you’re two of the most popular boys in the school, I’m sure that you would win. You would be the first gay couple, the first time to have two kings.”

“I-I don’t think I’m comfortable enough with my sexuality to do that,” Frank said nervously. “I mean, I’m out and everything but…I-I don’t know. It’s just too soon I think. I’m not ready. I’m not comfortable enough yet.”

“It’s okay, Frankie, you don’t have to run,” Gerard said, kissing Frank’s cheek. 

“Everyone knows Jamia and frank are going to win,” Debby said, rolling her eyes. “They always win.”

“Not always,” Jamia denied. 

“Just most of the time,” she said. 

“Of course you two would win, you two would honestly make a really cute couple,” Gerard said. 

Jamia and Frank both looked at each other before looking down. Nobody at the table said anything, quietly eating their lunch. 

“So, Jamia, do you have a date?” Gerard asked, breaking the silence. 

“Well, Pete asked me to go with him,” Jamia said with a blush. 

Frank practically choked. “Like, as a romantic date?”

“Yeah,” Jamia said. “He told me he had feelings for me and I’ve had a little crush on him and oh my god we were both so nervous and awkward when he asked me.”

“Finally he asked you out,” Josh muttered. “He’s had a crush on you since, like, eighth grade. He was so upset when you started dating your last boyfriend.”

“He is so sweet, I hope you two have a good time together,” Debby said. 

“Hey, Frank, you can borrow my brother’s suit, he’s got an old one that he grew out of,” Gerard said. 

“Really?” He asked. “Thanks, Baby.”

“So we all have dates this year, this is perfect,” Jamia said. “This is going to be the most perfect winter dance yet.”

“Let’s go dress shopping,” Gerard said. 

“I can’t, I’ve already got a dress,” Debby said. 

“I’m up for it,” Jamia agreed. “I wish you were wearing a dress too.”

“I’ll maybe wear a dress to prom, I’m just feeling a suit mood,” Gerard said. 

“You can have matching ties,” Jamia said. “You two are so cute together, I swear.”

Gerard smiled and held Frank’s hand. 

Lunch ended and by the end of the day Gerard was exhausted. He wished he could hang out with Frank but he knew that he had to go to work. He sat at the skatepark, relieved when he saw some of his friends walking in. 

“Hey, Gerard,” Pete said. 

“Hey, heard you asked out Jamia,” Gerard said. 

“Yeah, I was so nervous, I thought that she would actually say no because were friends,” he said. “But I am honestly so excited, I can’t believe I’m gonna actually be going on a date with her next week. I’m gonna be taking her to the dance, and not just as a friend like usual.”

“We are all very proud of him for finally getting the balls to ask her,” Josh said. 

“How’s Debby doing?” He asked. 

“She’s good, fighting with morning sickness and stuff but other than that she’s good,” He said. “She’s actually been packing stuff up, she’s gonna try and move in with me next month.”

“Congratulations,” Gerard said. “You nervous to have a kid?”

“Yeah, I really am,” Josh admitted. “I don’t really know anything about babies. I don’t know how the hell to take care of them but I’m getting some books about parenting and babies from the library so I’m hoping that it’ll help me.”

“Who’s gonna watch him while you two are at school?” Gerard asked. 

“I’m dropping out,” josh said. “I’ll watch the baby while Debby’s at school and then I’ll work the night shifts.”

“Where at?” Frank asked. 

“At this factory kind of place just at the edge of town,” josh said. “Not very glamorous but it pays. I already work the afternoon shifts there so it’ll be perfect.”

Gerard nodded, biting his lip. It really was a lot different here than in North Brunswick. Brunswick might not have been the nicest but it definitely wasn’t Belleville where the teen pregnancy rates were high and the dropout rates were even higher.

“Hey, Gerard, how are things going with Frank?” Pete asked. “We’ve noticed that he isn’t stuttering around you as much as before.”

“He’s definitely gotten better, a lot less nervous,” he said. “He is so cute, though.”

“You wanna slate with us?” Pete asked. 

“I wish I could but im really not good at skating,” Gerard said. “I was actually just about to head home so I guess I’ll see you guys later.”

“Well, maybe next time we’ll get you on the board,” Josh said. “See you later.”

Gerard nodded before walking out. He was on his way home when he passed by the Dairy Queen. He could see Jamia behind the counter, handing some little girl an ice cream cone. 

“Saw you ask Frank to the dance,” someone said. 

Gerard turned and saw Alicia sitting on a bench eating ice cream. 

“Yeah,” He said. “What are you doing here?”

“Eating an ice cream cone,” she said with a shrug. “You know, Frank wasn’t gay until you showed up.”

“Hate to break it to you but he’s still not gay,” he stated. 

“Well, He was never into guys,” she said. 

“Whatever,” Gerard mumbled. “Oh, and by the way, I know you have a crush on Frank and I’m not going to be threatened by you so just back off because trust me, I am not going anywhere.”

Alicia stood up, smashing her ice cream against Gerard’s chest before she stormed off. Gerard sighed, walking into the Dairy Queen bathroom to clean himself up. He ran into Frank when he walked out. 

“Oh, hey, I was just about to clean the bathrooms, what are you doing here?” Frank asked. 

“Alicia just threw ice cream at me,” Gerard said. 

Frank frowned in confusion. 

“It’s fine, it’s okay,” Gerard said. “I just wanna go home and take a nap, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah, you too,” Frank said. 

Gerard gave him a kiss before walking home to shower and sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Gerard was excited to go dress shopping but a part of him wished he could stay in this moment forever. He kissed Frank’s cheek, smiling happily.

“I hope you have a nice time at work,” Gerard said.

“Yeah, you too,” Frank said. “I-I mean, you’re not going to work. I-I hope you have a good time shopping.”

“Thank you, Frankie, I’ll see you later,” Gerard said.

Jamia walked up, smiling happily.

“You ready to go?” She asked.

“I am, just saying goodbye to my beautiful boyfriend,” he said.

“Bye,” Frank said, kissing Gerard’s cheek before walking off.

They got into the car, where Mikey was already sitting in the backseat. Gerard dropped Mikey off at home before they went to the mall.

“So, what color dress do you wanna wear?” Gerard asked.

“I don’t know, I was thinking maybe, like, a burgundy color,” she said.

“You would look so cute in that color,” Gerard said.

The two went around trying on dresses, laughing and talking. Jamia finally picked a maroon, off the shoulder dress. Gerard spotted Alicia picking out a dress on the other side of the store.

“God, I think she sent me that letter,” Gerard said. “Which just makes the whole thing more annoying and less funny.”

“She still has a crush on Frank?” Jamia asked. “Damn, I thought she would’ve gotten over that by now.”

“Well I guess not because she threw her ice cream at me yesterday,” he said. “God, she is really weird. Does she have any friends?”

“No, I have literally never seen her talk to anyone,” Jamia said. “She’s probably some kind of freak and that’s why she sent the letter.”

“I don’t think she’s a freak, I think she’s maybe just upset,” he said. “Maybe a little bit rude.”

“She has, like, no social skills at all, she was one of those kids who used to bite people in elementary school,” she said. “One time she put a dead rat in my locker.”

“You’re kidding,” Gerard said.

Jamia shook her head. “She is a freak, you should stay clear of her.”

“Yeah, maybe I should,” Gerard mumbled, looking at Alicia as they walked out of the store.

“So, you got your suit and everything ready?” Jamia asked.

“I do,” Gerard said. “I am so excited, I can’t believe that we’re actually going to the dance together. I haven’t had a real date to a dance in a while.”

“How come?” Jamia asked.

“Never really had a serious boyfriend or girlfriend,” Gerard said with a small shrug. “Never dated anyone to take to dances.”

“Well, I’m really glad that you’re able to have someone to take,” Jamia said. “You two are going to have such a good time.”

“And you’re gonna have an amazing time with Pete,” he said. “Come on, let’s go grab something from the food court.”

The two grabbed some burgers and fries before sitting at a table in the corner.

“God, is she following us?” Jamia asked. “What a stalker.”

Gerard looked up and saw Alicia buying food. He took an opportunity to look her over. She had messy black hair, matching her heavy, messy black eye makeup. She had on a black zombie shirt with skinny black jeans and a studded white belt. On top of all that she had some neon yellow converse matching her colorful bracelets, which went halfway up her forearm.

“Maybe we can invite her to eat with us and she’ll see that I’m a really nice person and she’ll apologize for what she did,” Gerard suggested.

“No offense but I don’t think that’s a really good idea,” Jamia said. “I mean, last time I had a sit down with her then she was just so rude the entire time. Besides, I don’t want another dead rat situation.”

‘God, just the thought of that makes me gag,” Gerard mumbled.

They finished eating and went back to Gerard’s house.

“So, can I see this letter?” Jamia asked.

Gerard handed the envelope to her, sighing as he sat on the bed. Jamia bit her lip as she looked at the photos.

“Do you think she followed you to that party?” Jamia asked.

“I don’t know, maybe, you didn’t happen to see her around at all that night did you?” He asked.

“I was with Debby all night shopping for baby stuff and then hanging out at my house,” Jamia said. “I didn’t see her around town at all.”

“Weird, I really hope she didn’t follow us to that party,” he said.

“Maybe she isn’t working alone, maybe there was someone from North Brunswick who would want you back and is working with her and that person took the photos for her,” she said. 

“I mean, Lindsey was being a little bit bitchy to Frank, I know that she’s missed me,” Gerard said.

“Maybe she’s working with Alicia,” Jamia said.

“God, I have a headache,” Gerard mumbled, laying down. “This is just dumb and childish, I can’t believe that someone things I’ll actually leave just because of some silly little anonymous note. It’s not like I even have a choice, my parents live here, they choose where we live.”

“Do you have family back in North Brunswick?” Jamia asked.

“Yeah, my grandparents,” Gerard said.

“Maybe if she gets too annoying you can go stay with her for a little bit,” she said.

“No, no way,” Gerard denied. “I am not going to just let her win. She can’t just scare me away because she wants to date Frank.”

“I mean, she’s a freak, she can be dangerous,” Jamia said. “I mean, if anyone were to start a shooting at her school then it would definitely be her. She was in a psych ward for half of sophomore year. Trust me, Gerard, she’s crazy. I would be careful of her.”

“Well, either way I’m still not just going to leave because of her,” Gerard said. “She can get dragged back to the ward before I ever listen to her.”

Jamia sighed, setting the things down.

“That is, like, mega creepy,” she said. “Taking random photos of people are so fucking weird.”

“People here are so odd,” Gerard said. “Ever since I moved here my life has been completely turned upside down. It’s like I went through some kind of vortex when I moved here. It’s...god, it’s so weird.”

“Let’s just ignore Alicia and all her dumb, stupid little threats because we are not going to let her ruin your perfect relationship with Frank,” Jamia stated.

“It is pretty perfect, isn’t it?” Gerard asked. “I know it’s still pretty early and everything but I think that we seem really great together and I hope that we stick together for a long time.”

“Maybe he can come by and hang out after his shift,” Jamia suggested. “He has to pick up his suit for the dance anyways.”

Gerard nodded, sending Frank a quick text. He put the envelope back into his nightstand drawer, pushing it out of his mind.

“You are gonna look so cute in your dress,” he said. “We should carpool together, maybe go out for dinner together before the dance. It can be like a double date.”

“Yeah, that sounds really good,” Jamia agreed. “Pete was going to pick me up and I can ask what he thinks about the double date and maybe he can pick you two up too.”

“This is seriously going to be the best dance ever,” he said. “Are you and Pete running for King and Queen?”

She shrugged. “We haven’t really been running or anything but, you know, you saw the ballots.”

Gerard nodded. The ballots were passed out earlier today, finalizing the list of kings and queens down to three each. Gerard, Frank and Pete were all in the running for king. Jamia, Debby and some other girl Gerard didn’t know were eligible to be queen.

“Usually there aren’t any new people on the list,” Jamia said. “I’m surprised, you actually kicked Brendon off the list. He’s always on it.”

“Well, sorry to him, I didn’t mean to push him off,” Gerard said. “Maybe I can take my name off the ballot for him.”

“No, no, it’s okay, I’m sure that Brendon doesn’t really mind, he doesn’t usually win anyways,” Jamia said. “People usually like to vote for couples and since he’s dating Ryan they don’t win together. We’ve never had a gay couple win before.”

“That would be cute if I could win with Frank but I get that he just isn’t ready yet for all of that,” Gerard said.

“When did you come out?” Jamia asked.

“I never really did, I just started dating boys,” he said. “I never really felt the need to stand up and make some sort of big, special announcement.”

Jamia nodded, playing with the hem of her shirt.

“I’m really glad that you’re dating Frank, he seems really happy with you,” she said. “Everyone wants him to be really happy because he’s had kind of a sucky life without his dad and struggling to make ends meet and everything.”

Gerard smiled, nodding his head.

“Do you know when he’s seeing his dad again?” Gerard asked.

“Probably some time after Christmas,” she said. “That’s when he usually sees him. Usually he ends up calling me the entire time to complain but I guess that he can call you this year instead.”

“So, the car accident that killed Frank’s ex, how did that happen?” Gerard asked.

“The car accident?” She asked. “Oh, um, it was texting, I think. I can’t remember who, her or the person she collided with but one of them was texting.”

“Oh, that really sucks,” Gerard mumbled. “I hate it when people text and drive. I mean, how can someone be so inconsiderate to put everyone else’s life at risk just over some stupid text?”

“Yeah, texting and driving is probably one of the worst things you could do,” Jamia agreed.

Gerard stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, biting his lip. He knew it was probably unbelievable for him to miss Frank already but he did. He was always missing Frank whenever they were apart, even if it was only for a short amount of time.

Frank finally came by after his shift, smiling as he gave Gerard a kiss.

“Did you get a dress?” Frank asked.

“Yes, I found the cutest one,” Jamia said. “I am going to really impress Pete at this dance.”

“You know, you have never once mentioned liking Pete,” Frank said. “Where did all of this come from all of the sudden. You never liked him before.”

“I don’t have to tell you everything,” Jamia stated.

“Well, I mean, you always used to tell me everything,” Frank stated. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. I am just glad that you found someone that you like and that you have someone to take you to the dance.”

Jamia nodded, pulling out her dress.

“What do you think?” She asked.

“That is a really beautiful dress, Mia,” Frank said. “You’re going to look great.”

“We should see you in your suit,” she said. “We’ll get to see how handsome you’re going to look.”

Gerard pulled the suit out of the closet, letting Frank try it on.

“Wow, this is weird wearing a real suit for once,” he said. “Do I look okay?”

“You look absolutely beautiful, Frankie,” Gerard said. “You look so handsome.”

Frank blushed, looking down at the suit.

“You do look really amazing, Frank,” Jamia said. “All dressed up and nice. Can’t wait to see when you’ve showered and cleaned up completely.”

Frank smiled, looking in the mirror.

“It does look pretty good,” he said. “Are you sure I can keep this? I mean, I can pay you for it.”

“No, no, we were gonna donate it anyways, you keep it,” Gerard said. “Seriously, you’re gonna need it for prom anyways. You don’t need to pay us anything for it.”

“Thank you so much,” he said, kissing Gerard’s cheek

“It’s getting late, I should get going,” Jamia said.

“Oh, yeah, me too,” Frank agreed. “Wanna walk with me, Jamia?”

She nodded and he changed back into his regular clothes, putting the suit in his bag. Gerard gave them both hugs before they left. He watched out the window as they argued while walking home.


	13. Chapter 13

Frank was so nervous as he waited on the couch, running over to buzz Gerard in when he got here. Gerard handed him a bouquet of lilies.

“Oh, you two look so handsome,” Linda said, “let me take some pictures.”

The two smiled for the photos and she sighed, pulling her hair up. She was already dressed in her uniform for work.

“You two have fun now, I have to go,” she said. “I’ll be working the nightshift and closing up so I won’t be back until after midnight. Don’t stay out too late and give me a text when you get back so I know you got here safe.”

“Okay, mom, I love you,” Frank said, kissing Linda’s cheek.

She left and he stood there a bit awkwardly in front of Gerard.

“So, what time was Pete gonna come by and pick us up?” Gerard asked.

“Oh, he told me he wanted some alone time with Jamia and they were gonna eat alone so I guess it’s just the two of us,” Frank said. “If that’s okay with you. If you still wanna double date with someone I’m sure that I can call Brendon or Josh.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Gerard denied. “I would love to just spend time with you. Where are you wanting to eat?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Frank said. “Just...please not somewhere that’s, like, too expensive.”

“Just outside of town there is this pasta place, you wanna try that place out?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, yeah, pasta is good,” Frank said. “Who doesn’t like pasta? Pasta is the people of my culture. N-not the people, oh my god. It’s the culture of my people. Th-that doesn’t really make sense either, I’m sorry.”

“So, you ready to head out then?” Gerard asked.

Frank nodded, grabbing his wallet. The two walked down to his car and he drove them to the small restaurant. They were lead to a small table in the back room where the lights were dim and there were candles on every table.

“This place looks kind of expensive,” Frank whispered nervously.

“We ate here when we first moved here,” Gerard said. “It really isn’t very expensive but they just have a really romantic atmosphere here in the back room when people come in on dates.”

They ordered some food and Frank folded his napkin nervously.

“Are you okay?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, yeah, just nervous,” he said. “Last time I had a date to a dance it didn’t end too well. And this is my first time going with another guy and I’m just really nervous.”

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay, it’s not like anyone has given us a hard time for being together, why would they start on the night of the dance?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” he mumbled. “I’m just nervous. It’s okay, I’m okay.”

Gerard smiled and reached across the table to hold Frank’s hand. The motion calmed Frank and he took a deep breath. He knew he was getting better about being nervous around Gerard, far better. But yet sometimes he did still get a bit anxious.

“Here you two are, enjoy your meal,” the waitress said, setting down two plates.

They were mostly quiet as they ate but neither of them minded the peaceful silence. They paid and headed off back to the school for the dance where it was all decorated.

“Hey, look great, Jamia,” Gerard said.

She smiled, giving him a hug. 

“Come on, we reserved a table over here,” she said.

We sat down at the table which was near the center. We greeted everyone, smiling happily.

“Come dance with me,” Gerard said.

Frank smiled, going over to the crowded dance floor with him. They danced happily until it came time for the announcement of king and queen. They started with the prince and princess for the underclassman before moving on to the upperclassman.

“This year’s Winter Queen is Jamia Nestor!” The principal announced.

She smiled and walked up, receiving her crown, sash and flowers.

“And this year’s king,” the principal continued. “Gerard Way!”

Frank noticed the way that Jamia’s smile faltered for a split second. He assumed it was because she didn’t when with Pete like she had hoped. Gerard went up and got his crown and sash, smiling happily. They walked down from the stage and Frank gave Gerard a hug.

“Congratulations, you’re really popular,” he said.

“Thank you, baby,” Gerard said.

“Yeah, you looked really great up there,” someone said. 

They turned and saw Lindsey standing there with a smirk.

“Oh my god, Linds, what are you doing here?” He asked, giving her a hug.

“We heard that your school had this dance so some of us decided to crash it,” she said.

“Who is this?” Jamia asked.

“Lindsey,” Gerard introduced.

“I also came with Patrick and Tyler and they went to go spike the punch,” Lindsey said.

“Can I talk to you, Gerard?” Jamia asked.

She took him off to the corner of the room. Lindsey looked Frank up and down.

“Is that Mikey’s suit?” She asked.

“He’s giving it to me,” Frank said.

“Oh, that’s nice of them,” she said. “Always nice to donate to the poor.”

Frank pursed his lips, sitting down at the table.

“Did she actually just say that?” Debby whispered.

“Just ignore her, Gerard likes her and I don’t want to start problems with her that starts problems with him,” he said. “Oh and by the way, don’t drink the punch because it’s spiked and you can’t have alcohol.”

“Thanks for looking out for me,” she said.

“I can go try and find you a water,” Frank offered. “It’s hot in here and you need to stay hydrated.”

“You are so sweet, thank you,” Debby said.

He went up to the beverage table and found some drinks that were in bottles and uncontaminated. He grabbed both a water bottle and a bottle of lemonade before going back to the table.

“I got you one of each because I didn’t know if you wanted something sweet,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said. “You are the best.”

Frank looked to where Gerard and Jamia were but found them gone.

“Hey, where did Gerard go?” He asked.

“Oh, Lindsey asked him to dance,” she said.

Frank saw them on the dance floor and sighed, sitting down.

“Who is she?” Josh asked.

Frank rolled his eyes. “Gerard’s old friend. A friend that he had benefits with.”

He waited for them to finish when he felt a small tap on his shoulder.

“Hey, do you wanna dance?” Alicia asked.

Frank bit his lip. He didn’t really know her but he knew she didn’t have a lot of friends, he felt bad for her sometimes.

“Yeah, sure, I would love to dance with you,” he agreed.

Alicia smiled and the two went to the floor. It was a little awkward at first but it grew even more awkward when a slow song came on. 

“This was cool,” Frank said.

“Who says we have to stop?” Alicia asked.

“May I interrupt to have a dance with my boyfriend?” Gerard asked.

Frank smiled and nodded, wrapping his arms around his neck. Gerard held his hips, pulling him close.

“What are you dancing with her for?” Gerard asked.

“What?” Frank asked.

“I think she’s the one sending me the notes,” he said. 

“No, Alicia is too sweet to do something like that,” Frank denied. “She may be a little weird but that’s just because she’s shy.”

“Frank, she’s, like, psychotic,” Gerard said. “You’re the one who was worried about the note in the first place.”

“Is this gonna turn into an argument?” Frank asked quietly. “Because I really don’t want to argue with you, especially not tonight.”

“I don’t want to argue either, it just maybe makes me a little bit nervous,” he said. “Since I know it’s not from a friend that doesn’t make it as funny, just makes it kinda creepy and weird.”

“We have to prove that it’s actually from Alicia before we start hating on her,” Frank said. “It may be creepy but if we seriously start pointing fingers we can get her in a lot of trouble if we give it to the principal or something.”

“I guess you’re right,” Gerard mumbled. “She just gives me an odd feeling. I don’t like seeing you dance with her.”

“I don’t like seeing you dance with Lindsey,” Frank said. “She called me poor.”

“She did?” Gerard asked. “I’m sorry, I’ll talk to her.”

Frank sighed, resting his head on Gerard’s shoulder. They grew tired a few songs later and went back to the table. Gerard pulled Lindsey aside and Frank watched them argue with a smug smile.

“Hey, you wanna dance?” Jamia asked.

The two walked off, dancing to the slow song together.

“So, how is your first date going with Pete?” Frank asked.

“It’s a little bit awkward,” Jamia admitted. “Was it really awkward ever with you and Gerard?”

“It was,” he said. “But Gerard was always so confident that he was able to always fill the silence and make things less awkward between us.”

“We both don’t quite know what to say, it is so awkward,” she said. “Oh my god, what do I say? What do we talk about?”

“Just talk like you would with a friend,” he said. “You just need to relax, I had to learn to relax around Gerard too.”

Jamia nodded, biting her lip. 

“So, How is your night with Gerard going?” She asked. 

“Pretty good,” Frank said. “But, I mean, it could be better. Just wish that Lindsey hadn’t shown up. Congratulations on being voted queen, though.”

Jamia smiled, kissing his cheek. 

“Hey, Frankie, Do you wanna get out of here?” Gerard asked. 

Frank nodded, giving Jamia a hug before he walked off with Gerard. They got into his car, starting it up and turning on the heat. 

“So, where is lindsey?” Frank asked. 

“Should be on her way back to North Brunswick,” Gerard said. “She was pretty pissed. I’m really sorry about her, she isn’t usually like that.”

“Crazy ex girlfriend,” Frank muttered. “I still think that she might somehow be responsible for the letters. She hates me and she would really want you to go back home.”

“Yeah, that’s what Jamia was thinking too,” Gerard said. 

He ran a hand down his face.

“Are you okay?” Frank asked.

“Yes, just a little bit stressed out,” he mumbled. “This whole note business is kinda annoying and the Alicia and Lindsey really aren’t helping. I am so, so sorry about her.”

“No, it’s okay,” Frank said. “So, what are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know but I feel like the dance was kind of ruined a bit,” he said. “Maybe we can go catch a movie or something. Get some ice cream at McDonald’s.”

“Anything is fine,” Frank said with a small shrug.

“Maybe we can just go back to your apartment,” Gerard said.

Frank nodded and Gerard drove them back. Frank stood a little bit awkwardly, playing with his sleeves.

“You know, I didn’t bring you back here to do anything if you don’t want to,” Gerard said. “We can just, like, cuddle and watch Netflix on my phone.”

“That sounds really good,” Frank agreed. “Let me just get out of this suit. You can borrow something more comfortable.”

They changed into some pajamas, cuddling up in Frank’s bed together. They watched movies on Gerard’s phone together and although Frank was comfortable doing just this, he might’ve hoped that they would do something together. But Frank was too nervous and shy to make the first move. Instead, he just laid his head on Gerard’s chest and ended up falling asleep in his arms.


	14. Chapter 14

It was cold and snowing outside, winter break just starting up and everyone was excited. Gerard was curled up on the couch in his basement, watching movies under a big heated blanket. Frank was coming by after his shift at work and Gerard was just counting down the minutes. He already had snacks lined up and ready.

Frank let himself in and came down to the basement, holding two blizzards with something tucked under his arm. Gerard smiled, giving him a kiss. He smiled, taking the cups and setting them down on the coffee table.

“Also your mail was on the front porch underneath a rock,” he said.

“Oh, yeah, they do that sometimes because in the winter the mailbox will sometimes freeze shut,” Gerard said.

Frank set the mail down, curling up under the blanket with him.

“Oh my god, is this a heated blanket?” Frank asked and Gerard nodded. “Oh my god, this is really amazing. I want one of these. It’s like I’m in a little burrito and I’m being baked in an oven.”

Gerard chuckled, kissing his cheek. 

“You are so cute,” he said. “When are you going to your dad’s?”

“Um, like a few days after Christmas,” Frank said. “I’ll be staying the night and it will no doubt suck.”

“I’m sorry,” Gerard said. 

“Also, Gerard, can we not do presents for each other?” Frank asked. “It’s just that I don’t have enough money to buy a present and I don’t want you to buy me a gift if I can’t get you one back.”

“Alright then, no gifts,” Gerard agreed. “That just means I’ll have to shower you in kisses instead.”

Frank smiled, resting his head on Gerard’s shoulder. They watched tv for a little bit before Mikey came downstairs.

“Hey, did my magazine come in the mail?” He asked.

Gerard gestured to the pile of mail so he could search through it. Mikey sighed, sorting through the papers.

“Oh, this one is for you,” Mikey said, handing Gerard an envelope.

He grabbed his magazine before heading back upstairs. Gerard opened the letter, rolling his eyes. This time it was written in red paint.

_This isn’t a joke. Leave this city. Go live with your grandparents. Nobody wants you here. Nobody likes you. I will hurt you._

“Is that fake blood?” Frank asked.

Gerard pulled out polaroids, pictures of the couple together at the winter dance.

“Weird, again,” Gerard said. “Just weird.”

There was something else in there, though. Gerard pulled it out and gasped, dropping it down onto the blanket. There was a bloody razor.

“Oh my god, is that written in real blood?” Frank asked.

“The blood on this is still wet,” he said. “Oh my god, I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“We need to tell someone,” Frank said. “This is a real threat, Gerard. This is serious. We can’t just ignore this.”

Gerard nodded, putting everything back into the envelope. He grabbed the old envelope, biting his lip.

“Is your mom home?” He asked.

“Um, yeah, she should be,” Frank said. “Do you wanna tell her?”

Gerard nodded and they drove over to Frank’s apartment. Linda was in the middle of sweeping and she smiled when she saw Frank and Gerard.

“Mom, Gerard got another letter like the last one,” Frank said.

They handed it to her and she bit her lip.

“You should go to the police,” Linda said. “This is serious.”

Gerard nodded, looking at the razor.

“And you need to tell your parents about this, too,” she said. “They need to know that you’ve been getting threats. Tell your parents and then have them take you to the police station to report this.”

“Alright, let’s go,” Frank said.

“Maybe you should stay here, Frankie,” Linda said. “I just...I just don’t think you should get involved in this.”

“I’m in these pictures too, mom, I’m kind of already involved in this,” Frank said and Linda pursed her lips. “Fine then, fine. I’ll talk to you later, Gerard, call me and tell me how it goes.”

Gerard kissed his cheek before driving back home. He took a moment to breathe in his car before walking inside.

“Hey, you two left the tv on and left melted ice cream on the table,” Donald said.

“Dad, I need to show you something,” Gerard said.

He handed him the two envelopes, letting his dad sit at the table and read them.

“And you’ve had these for how long?” He asked.

“I got the first one last week, the second one today,” Gerard said.

“You should’ve told me when you got the first one,” he said. “This is serious.”

“I know, I think we should go to the police to report it,” he stated. “This is blood. This is actual, real blood.”

“Yeah, definitely, go get the car started and I’ll be out there just after I grab my coat,” he said.

Gerard took the notes and went outside, waiting in the car. Donald joined him and drove them to the local police station.

“How can I help you?” An officer asked.

“My son has been receiving threats,” Donald stated.

“Who are these threats coming from?” He asked.

“We don’t know, they’re anonymous,” he said.

Gerard showed the man the papers.

“Alright, I am going to pass this off to someone else,” the officer said. “Just give me a moment.”

The two waited in uncomfortable chairs before someone else came out.

“Hello, I am Detective Orzechowski,” the lady said. “Why don’t you two follow me.”

They followed her through a door where other detectives were, sitting down at her desk.

“So, I was told that you were receiving threats from an anonymous source,” she said.

“Yes, it start last week,” Gerard said, handing her the envelopes.

She bit her lip as she looked them over carefully.

“That is fake blood, correct?” Donald asked.

“This appears to be real blood, I’ll send it to the lab to have it tested,” she said.

“So you can get a DNA sample and we’ll be able to figure out who did it?” Gerard asked.

“Well, DNA can only be found from the white blood cells in blood,” Detective Orzechowski said. “And it can be a difficult process, unfortunately something that we don’t really have the funding for. We can try to send it to another department nearby.”

Gerard nodded, looking at the notes.

“These are pertaining to the other boy,” she said. “What is his name?”

“Frank Iero,” Gerard said. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“Where were these photos taken?” She asked.

“The first ones were taken at a party back up in North Brunswick a week ago,” Gerard said. “The second set was from the winter dance two days ago.”

“Is there anyone that you know who would want to send you these notes?” Detective Orzechowski asked.

“I don’t know, maybe this one girl named Alicia Simmons,” he said. “She has a big crush on Frank and so she doesn’t really like me too much. She threw her ice cream at me.”

“Has she ever exhibited any other sort of threatening behaviors before?” She asked. “Any other verbal threats or actions?”

“No, not really,” he said. “She’s pretty quiet. But she has a bunch of newspapers, I bet that if you looked at them there would be letters cut out of it.”

“We will add her to the suspect list but remember, everyone is innocent until proven guilty,” she said and Gerard nodded.

“But if this is this Alicia girl, what would be done to her?” Donald asked.

“Well, this person is harassing you and uttering threats to cause bodily harm, both of which is a criminal offense,” she said. “This person could be looking at five to ten years imprisonment.”

“Seriously?” Gerard asked.

“These are some pretty serious threats, plus they sent a weapon,” she said. “We will definitely call Miss Simmons in for a talk. We will also need to bring in Mr. Iero.”

“I’m not actually going to have to break up with Frank, am I?” Gerard asked.

“No, we will not let you be intimidated by the messenger,” she said. “Why did this only just start now?”

“We only just moved here about a month ago,” Donald said. “We’re from North Brunswick.”

“Are you liked at school?” She asked. “Do you get along well with your peers?”

“Yeah, of course, I was just named king at the dance,” Gerard said. “I’ve got a group of friends who all support each other and stuff. I don’t know why anyone would have a problem with me.”

“These envelopes, where do you find them?” She asked.

“They’ve just been coming in with the regular mail,” he said.

“Mr. Way, you’re a stay at home dad,” she said, turning to him. “Have you noticed any strange behaviors? Maybe the gates been left open or there’s footprints in your yard or something like that? Strange noises from outside at night?”

“No, everything has been completely peaceful,” Donald said.

“Do you have any siblings, Gerard?” She asked.

“Yeah, a younger brother,” he said.

“Has he received any similar messages?” She asked.

“No, Mikey’s been completely fine,” he said.

“Do you have any classes with Alicia?” She asked.

“Just physics, Frank is in that class, too,” Gerard said. 

“What about previous partners of Frank Iero?” She asked.

“He just had an ex-girlfriend but she passed away in a car accident,” Gerard said.

Detective Orzechowski nodded, frowning softly.

“Well, I think that’s all the questions I have for right now,” she said. “I’ll keep in touch and tell me if you find anything else suspicious or threatening.”

They shook her hand before leaving. His father gave him a lecture on the way home about how he should’ve told him earlier. Gerard went straight up to his room when they got up, sighing unhappily as he laid in bed.

“What’s wrong?” Mikey asked.

“Got another creepy letter, I just got done talking with the police,” he mumbled.

“Will it make you feel better for me to tell you that I got a date tomorrow?” Mikey asked and Gerard looked up in interest. “I finally asked Kristin out on a date.”

“Oh, that’s amazing!” Gerard cheered. “Where are you taking her?”

“I was thinking maybe dinner and movies,” he said. “I don’t know, this is my first time going on a date so I wanted to ask you what you thought and about where you think I should take her.”

“I think dinner and movies is a good first date,” Gerard agreed. “Take her to the pasta place just outside of town, it’s cheap, which is good, but still nice enough that it doesn’t seem like you’re taking her out on a cheap date.”

“What movie should I take her to see?” Mikey asked.

“Let her pick but chances are she’ll say she doesn’t care,” he said. “But when you ask they’ll always immediately look at the movie they do want to see so choose that one.”

“Okay, so, should I get snacks at the theaters?” He asked.

“I would get just, like, a small popcorn and some drinks since you’ll be eating,” Gerard said. “Who’s taking you on this date?”

“Well, she just got her driver’s license so she can drive us,” he said. “Thank god, it would’ve been way too awkward asking dad to drive us.”

“I’m really glad that you asked her out,” Gerard said. “It would’ve been cool if you asked her a week ago then you two could’ve gone to the dance together. It would’ve been your first time going to a school dance.”

“It’s okay, I feel like I wouldn’t want that to be our first date because her friends would be there and it wouldn’t just be the two of us,” he said.

First date at a dance? That reminded Gerard to ask Jamia how her date with Pete went later.

“It’s gonna be great, she’s a bookish girl, bookish girls are always nice,” he said.

Mikey smiled and nodded. Gerard got up and dug through the closet, searching for the perfect outfit for Mikey to wear on his date.


	15. Chapter 15

“So, I don’t want to seem crude or anything but, like, how far exactly did you get with Jamia?” Brendon said. “Because it seemed kinda awkward at the dance.”

“Um, well, we danced and held hands,” Pete said. “We didn’t kiss when I dropped her off. I was nervous, I wasn’t sure if I should’ve or not. Fuck, did I make a mistake? Should I have kissed her?”

“Don’t stress about it too much,” frank said. “It’s better to not kiss her than to kiss her when she didn’t really wanna be kissed.”

Pete nodded, picking up his pop can. The three of them were all hanging out in Brendon’s bedroom, the tv playing in the background.

“What about you and Gerard, have you gotten over your fear of being touched yet?” Pete asked.

“We have been intimate but we haven’t had sex,” Frank said. “He’s been going slow for me and I’m too nervous to make a first move.”

“Dude, just grab his dick,” Brendon said.

“No, I am not going to do that,” he denied. “Where’s Josh? I thought he was gonna be hanging out with us?”

“Oh, him and Debby are at a Doctor’s appointment,” Pete said. “Are you sure Jamia likes me? I know you said that she said she was into me but something just felt a little bit off. She was really quiet the whole time and stuff.”

“She was probably just nervous, don’t worry about it, man,” Frank said.

“Where is Gerard? How’s he doing?” Brendon asked.

“He’s helping his brother,” he said. “He got another one of those weird letters again. This one had a razor and was written in blood.”

“Now that is just fucked up,” Brendon said. “Let me tell you, if someone sent one of those letters to my Ryan then I would beat their asses.”

“Yeah, I definitely wanna beat the person sending him the notes,” Frank agreed. “I have to go in tomorrow to answer questions for the police. Gerard told me they’re going to bring in Alicia Simmons for questioning too.”

“You think she’s behind this?” Brendon asked and Frank shrugged. “What if it’s--”

“If you’re gonna say her, no, it’s not her,” Frank interrupted. “And I might have done something bad. Or maybe not bad but just wrong.”

“What’s that?” He asked.

“I told Gerard that she was dead,” Frank said. “That she died in a car accident.”

“Wha--why would you do that?” Pete asked.

“I don’t know, I thought it would be easier so that way I would never have to tell Gerard about her,” he said. “Besides, it’s all in the past, she might as well have died.”

Pete frowned.

“Not like that, obviously I don’t want her dead or anything but there’s just no connection between us anymore, she’s not the one sending the notes and nobody should point fingers at her,” he said.

“You’re right, maybe it is better that we all just pretended she was dead,” Brendon said. “She’s not really relevant anymore, you burned those bridges.”

Frank shrugged, letting out a sigh.

“It was pretty bad, wasn’t it?” Frank asked and they nodded. “I’m just glad that things aren’t bad between us anymore.”

“I still think it’s fucked up that you said she was dead,” Pete muttered.

“Where’s Jamia?” Frank asked.

“Hanging out with her sister,” Pete said. “I wanna take her out on another date, what do you think we should do?”

“If it was warmer I would say take her mini golfing, she loves mini golf,” Frank said.

“There’s this one indoor mini golf place about two towns over,” Brendon said. “I took Ryan on a date there one time and it’s pretty nice. You should go in the evening, otherwise earlier in the day there are a lot of younger kids there. Oh, and on Fridays they turn on the blacklights.”

“What do I do?” Pete asked. “I’ve never really had a girlfriend before. When do I hold her hand? When do I kiss her? Should I bring her flowers or is that too much? Maybe I should bring chocolates instead, flowers are kind of useless.”

“She would probably really like chocolates,” Frank said. “Jamia says she likes you so it doesn’t really matter when you do stuff just as long as you do them. Just hold her hand and open her door for her. It’s the little things that make her happy.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Pete said. “I’m really nervous, I just want things to work out between us. I have been dreaming about going on a date with her since forever. Remember last year?”

Pete was referring to the year before when a senior boy on the football team asked Jamia out on a date. She had been really excited, dressed up all cute with her makeup done. They were meant to meet at the restaurant and he ended up standing Jamia up, leaving her to wait at the restaurant for an hour and a half. The waitresses ended up giving her a free ice cream sundae because they felt bad.

“She was so heart broken and I just wanted nothing more than to just hold her tight,” Pete said. “I should have asked her out then, I don’t know why I didn’t. I was just nervous.”

Frank smiled, patting his shoulder.

“Just be glad that you’ve down it now, I hope that you guys are really happy together,” he said. “And maybe one day I can be best man at your wedding.”

“Hey, I’m gonna be the best man,” Brendon said.

Frank laughed, throwing a pillow at him. 

“So, when do you think Debby and Josh are going to tie the knot?” Pete asked.

“Oh, it will not take long, they’re already gonna be living together and they’re having a child together,” Frank said. “I bet that they’re going to married about a month after the baby is born, maybe two months. They’re probably just going to get married in a courthouse. I know they would probably want something nicer but they would keep it simple for the money.”

“Speaking of, how are things going with your situation?” brendon asked.

“A little bit better,” Frank said. “My mom’s gotten a raise and usually I get money for Christmas from my dad so that should help out. We weren’t behind on our rent this week. Being on the free lunch program at school really helps too because we don’t have to pay for as much food and stuff like that.”

“You know, if you ever need help on anything we’re always here for you,” Brendon said. “You know, if you maybe need a place to crash or something. My mom loves to cook, she probably wouldn’t mind making you and your mom a lasagna or something.”

“Thanks, Brendon, I’m sure my mom would love that,” Frank said. “She works a lot, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind coming home to something homemade rather than heating up some instant noodles.”

“Josh just texted, he gave me a little update on the baby,” Pete said. “Ryan is getting bigger and he’s perfectly healthy. So far he is growing right on track.”

“I feel like if I had a baby I wouldn’t name him Ryan or something really common like that,” Frank said. “I would want something cuter and more unique. Not something too unique that it’s obscure and weird but just something that isn’t uncommon.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Debby you hate the name of her unborn child,” Brendon said.

“No, I don’t hate it, obviously,” Frank said with a small chuckle. “It’s a nice name and stuff but it's just really common.”

“Would you name your daughter after your mom?” Brendon asked. “The two of you are really close.”

“We are and I love her and all but naming a baby Linda is just weird,” he said. “Have you ever actually met a baby named Linda? Babies don’t have the name Linda. Maybe I would let her name my child, or at least take part in the naming process. Maybe choose their middle name.”

Frank played with his sleeves, a small smile on his face. For a moment he thought of his future with Gerard, the two of them living together and raising children together.

“Frank, I’m still gonna need more advice on Jamia, you know her best,” Pete said.

“Oh my god, Pete, you’re gonna be just fine you just can’t get so worried, it’s the same when I got really nervous around Gerard,” Frank said. “Seriously, Jamia doesn’t quite have the personality to make up for your awkwardness like Gerard did with mine. She’s worried that things are going to be awkward and she doesn’t want things to be awkward between you but she still wants to be with you.”

Pete nodded, grabbing his phone.

“You know what, I am going to ask her out on another date right now,” Pete said.

He dialed her number before pressing the device to his ear.

“Hey, Mia,” Pete said with a nervous chuckle. “I was just, uh, just calling to see if you wanted to go out on a date with me one day this week. I was thinking that maybe we can go down to this one indoor mini golf place that I heard about...Okay, okay, great, I will text you later with the details then...okay, I will, talk to you later.”

Pete hung up, sighing in relief as he pumped a fist.

“She said yes!” He cheered. “She also told me to say hello to the two of you.”

“How does she know we’re with you?” Frank asked.

“Uh, snapchat maps I think,” he said. “That’s probably where. That’s my guess, at least.”

“We should go on a double date,” Brendon suggested. “That would probably make things a little bit easier between you two if you had me and Ryan there to help make conversation so things wouldn’t be so awkward.”

“That sounds good,” Pete agreed. “We’ll have to set that up one day. I still can’t believe that Josh got Debby pregnant, that almost makes me nervous to date. I mean, what would you guys do if you got your girlfriend pregnant in high school. Imagine if I got Jamia pregnant.”

“God, that would be awful, my mom and I are barely able to support ourselves, imagine having to pay child support on top of all that,” Frank said. “When I first had sex with my girlfriend I think I was scared that she was pregnant for, like, three months afterwards. We used a condom and everything but I was still just super worried that something went wrong, I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure if I put the condom on correctly.”

“I don’t even know how to imagine that,” Brendon said. “I’m, like, super gay. But I don’t know, my parents have some money so I guess that it wouldn’t be too hard to pay child support but they wouldn’t be happy, I would have to get a job to help pay for it. I would obviously try to be in that child’s life and stuff because having an absent father would suck but I don’t think I would stay with that family unless it was super serious, like how it is with me and Ryan.”

“Did you really put the condom on wrong, Frank?” Pete asked.

“I-I don’t know, I don’t know how to put on condoms,” Frank said. “I mean, now I do but I didn’t back then. I don’t remember exactly but I am pretty sure that I put it on wrong. I was nervous and impatient.”

The two laughed at Frank, making him scowl.

“It’s not funny, okay? I was fifteen and young and stupid,” Frank said. 

“Well, you better get it right when you do it with Gerard,” Pete said. “No offense to him or anything but, like, he’s been with a lot of people and we don’t know when he’s last been tested.”

“Or you can both get tested and then you can do it raw,” Brendon said. “Trust me, raw is so much better.”

“Okay, we don’t need to keep talking about my sex life,” Frank said. “I thought we were gonna play video games, what happened to that?”

Brendon smiled and passed out controllers so they could all spend twenty minutes arguing about what game to play.


	16. Chapter 16

Gerard was, overall, really proud of his brother. The date seemed to go perfectly and Mikey even got his first kiss last night. She seemed nice and they got along well, Mikey said they liked a lot of the same authors and shows and movies. He was really glad that he seems to have gotten a lot more confidence since moving here.

“Thanks, Gerard, for making me talk to Kristin, I really needed that push even if I may have resented it,” Mikey said.

“Yeah, no problem,” Gerard said. “Just glad that now you know I don’t do what I do because I want to be a dick, I just want what’s best for you.”

Gerard cleaned up his clothes off his floor, tossing them into the hamper.

“Okay, so, I guess that since you helped me, I can help you with something,” Mikey said. “I owe you a favor.”

“I just might take you up on that if I need it, maybe a shield between me and Alicia,” he said.

“Wasn’t Jamia saying something about it being Lindsey?” Mikey asked. “I wouldn’t be surprised, honestly. She’s psycho. A psycho and a bitch.”

“She might be a little rude sometimes but she isn’t a psycho,” Gerard denied.

“One time I was standing in between you two so she pushed me into a puddle of mud,” Mikey stated.

“That was an accident,” he said.

“No, that was no accident,” he denied. “There was also that one time where you were home sick so she stapled her hand so she could go home too.”

“She never did that, it was just a rumor,” Gerard said, rolling his eyes.

“She did, I watched her,” Mikey said. “Why do you think her hand was bandaged for a week?”

“Why would she have even made it the way she did, it’s targeted at me,” he said.

“Obviously so no one would suspect her if it looks like someone is writing it who wants Frank while also pushing you back to Brunswick,” he said. “Looks like it’s someone else and she gets you out of it.”

Gerard frowned as he looked down.

“She wouldn’t hurt me,” Gerard denied.

“It’s not like she has actually hurt you, they may just be empty threats,” Mikey said. “Besides, she was both at the party and the dance. She was the only person to be in both places. You have to admit, the fact that she was the only person to be there seems a little bit suspicious. She could’ve very easily taken the photos while she was there.”

“Maybe that is a little bit weird,” Gerard mumbled. “She doesn’t like Frank at all. She was asking me at the dance to move back to Brunswick and live with Grandma and Grandpa. She was saying that I should graduate from the school I started in. And, most importantly, break up with Frank so that way we could be together.”

“I would maybe look less at Alicia and start pointing fingers at Lindsey,” Mikey suggested.

“Whatever,” Gerard mumbled. “Frank is coming over and we’re gonna be in the basement in case you need us.”

“Yeah, I would rather not walk in on the two of you making out,” Mikey grumbled.

The doorbell rang and Gerard hurried down to answer it. He lead Frank down to the basement, snuggling up with him on the couch.

“I missed you,” Gerard said.

“Yeah, I missed you too,” Frank said with a small smile.

Gerard gave him a kiss, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“Again, I am sorry about Lindsey the other day, I’ve been told that she’s apparently psycho,” Gerard said. “What she said to you was really uncalled for and she really shouldn’t have said anything at all. I didn’t know that she was going to show up at all, I know you wanted the dance to go perfect after the last time you had a date to the dance and she kind of ruined it.”

“It’s okay, I don’t think the dance mattered that much, what happened after the dance was so much better,” Frank said. “I loved just being able to cuddle with you and just watch movies. That was what made the night just perfect. We don’t need fancy dances or suits or anything like that, just a quiet night in with snacks and movies makes me happy.”

“I’m glad because that is exactly what I am going to give you today,” Gerard said. “Snacks, movies and lots of cuddles.”

Frank smiled, resting his head on Gerard’s shoulder. 

“You are the best boyfriend ever,” he said. “I’m really glad that I was able to meet you. And thanks for being so patient with me.”

Gerard nodded, holding him close. They dove into the snacks and had a little competition to see who could catch the most amount of popcorn in their mouths, showcasing their wins onto their snapchat stories.

“Winner!” Frank cheered. “What does the winner get?”

“The winner gets a big ol’ kiss,” Gerard said, giving him a big, wet kiss on the cheek.

Frank laughed and wiped his cheek off, scrunching up his nose. Gerard curled up close to him, smiling as he scrolled through his phone casually when he got a notification.

“Someone just screenshotted my story,” Gerard said. “The one of you catching the popcorn in your mouth.”

“Who was it?” Frank asked.

“I don’t know, someone named...Simon47,” he said. “Simmons? As in Alicia fucking Simmons?”

“Maybe it’s some guy named Simon,” Frank said.

“Is there a guy at our school named Simon?” Gerard asked and Frank shook his head. “Well, they added me when I moved to this school and I don’t know anyone else who it would be other than Alicia fucking Simmons.”

Frank sighed, looking down.

“How did your interview with Detective Orzechowski go?” Gerard asked.

“It went fine, it was kind of boring and long,” he said. “Mostly just asking about other people that I know.”

“God, I really hope that they figure out who it is,” he mumbled. “And if it is Alicia then I swear I am going to slap that bitch to fucking Kentucky. How dare she fucking threaten me just because I am dating you.”

“You know, anger is not a good look on you,” Frank said after a quiet pause. “You’re always so sweet and happy, it’s weird to see you angry.”

Gerard took a deep breath, nodding his head.

“I’m sorry, I’m just a little bit angry because I think that I should be able to date whoever I want without being threatened because of it,” Gerard stated. “We should be able to be happy together without someone trying to interfere with us.”

“Yeah, we really should and I know that it’s aggravating,” Frank said. “Just block that person on snapchat.”

Gerard nodded and did exactly that.

“So, how did Mikey’s date go?” Frank asked.

“Really well,” Gerard said. “He had his first kiss with her yesterday and he was so happy when he came home, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy before.”

“Who is this girl that he’s dating anyways?” Frank asked.

“Her name is Kristin Colby,” Gerard said.

Frank frowned and looked down.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Gerard asked.

“Nothing, it’s just that there are some rumors about her,” Frank said. “I’m sure they aren’t true but they aren’t the best.”

“What rumors?” He asked.

“That she, um, in the nicest way possible, that she gets around,” Frank said. “I don’t think that’s true, though. We were in a study group together one time, she’s in a lot of classes ahead of her grade. She is very bookish and nerdish and smart. She is really sweet, though. I don’t think it’s true, they’re just stupid old rumors. I don’t know why anyone would say that about her because she is so quiet and sweet.”

“Guess the Way brothers haven’t been doing to well relationship wise,” Gerard said. “One has rumors spread about his girlfriend and the other gets threatened to move away.”

“Speaking of, are you going to be out of town at all during break?” Frank asked.

“I will be for a little bit, just for like a day to go visit my grandparents back in North Brunswick,” he said. “I think that’s it, though. We don’t have a whole lot of family that lives out of town that we see very often.”

Gerard held Frank’s hand, pulling him closer. They cuddled up close as they watched tv under a fuzzy blanket. Frank leaned up, kissing Gerard softly before slowly deepening it. Gerard smirked and straddled his hips. He tangled his hands into Frank’s hair, slowly kissing down to his neck.

“Do you wanna stop?” Gerard asked.

Frank shook his head, pulling him closer. Footsteps came down the steps and Gerard quickly pulled away before Mikey walked in.

“Dad wants to know if Frank is staying for dinner,” he said.

“Um, I don’t know,” Gerard said. “Are you able to stay?”

“Yeah, I can stay,” Frank said. “If it’s okay with your dad, I don’t wanna intrude or anything.”

“No, no it’s fine,” Gerard said. “Seriously, he loves having you over, he likes you a lot.” 

Gerard smiled, giving him a kiss.

“So, Mikey, I heard you had a good time on your date,” Frank said. “Congratulations, Kristin is a really sweet girl and I hope you two are happy together.”

“You know her?” Mikey asked.

“Yeah, we were in the same study group,” he said. “She is really nice and I’m glad that you were finally able to ask her out.”

“Finally?” Mikey asked. “Gerard, stop telling people all about my business. It’s bad enough that you’re getting all up in my business and now you don’t need to be telling everyone else about my business, too. The whole school doesn’t need my business. I’m gonna tell people your business if you don’t stop.”

“Do it, I dare you,” Gerard said with a small chuckle.

“Okay, fine,” Mikey said. “Frank, Gerard used to eat bugs because he thought it would give him superpowers. All up until he was in middle school.”

“Ew, that is gross,” Frank said. “I don’t think we can be together anymore.

“Well darn, that’s just too bad,” Gerard mumbled. “Thanks for breaking up my relationship, Mikey, I’ll see you at dinner.”

Mikey sighed before going back upstairs.

“You really ate bugs to give yourself superpowers?” Frank asked.

“I was stupid and read way too many X-Men comic books,” Gerard said. “But hey, who says I wouldn’t turn into Ant-Man, maybe I just haven’t eaten enough ants.”

“Remind me to never let you cook for me,” Frank said. “I really don’t want to end up picking insect legs out of my teeth.”

“I do not eat bugs anymore, that was a period of my life that we no longer talk about,” Gerard said. “I used to be really geeky.

“Used to,” Frank teased, making Gerard hit his shoulder lightly. “How were you so popular? I’ve never met someone who is popular and also does something like eat bugs. That’s the weird thing the kid at the back of the class do.”

“God, I’m glad that I was able to at least be able to make friends,” he said. 

“I bet you secretly fed bugs to your friends, though,” Frank said.

“Okay, okay, enough with the bug thing,” he said. “Let’s leave that in the past. I could bring up things, too. Jamia told me some pretty embarrassing thing about you.”

“Yeah, like what?” Frank asked.

“Like about the time you lost your virginity,” Gerard said.

Frank stared at Gerard, his face going pale.

“Sh-she told you?” Frank asked.

“Frankie, it’s okay,” Gerard said. “Nobody lasts long their first time, I know I didn’t.”

“Oh, that’s all she told you?” He asked. “Nothing about the girl that I did it with?”

“No,” he said. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“No,” Frank denied. “When did you lose your virginity? What was it like?”

Gerard blushed. “Well, I was twelve and was at a birthday party for an older kid and they wanted to play seven minutes in heaven and, well, I definitely didn’t last those full seven minutes.”

“You were twelve?” Frank asked. “Th-that’s really young.”

“Yeah, I was kinda dumb,” Gerard said. “I wish that I had waited for someone more special. We’re still mutuals on instagram but we haven’t really talked in five years.”

“And there has been how many people since then?” Frank asked curiously.

“Um, well, that isn’t really important, it doesn’t matter,” Gerard said.

“So, you don’t have enough fingers to count them?” Frank guessed.

“It doesn’t matter,” Gerard stated.

Frank sighed but didn’t say anything else. Gerard knew that he probably wanted to know but didn’t want to bring it up at all. Gerard didn’t want to mention it either, he knew the number would probably upset him and that’s the last thing he wanted to do. He just want to be happy with Frank.


	17. Chapter 17

Gerard loved Christmas, it was by far his favorite holiday. His dad always made tree shaped pancakes and decorated them like trees using frosting. It wasn’t the healthiest meal but damn it tasted good. Then they would all open presents and just hang out around the house all day in their pajamas. They always ate steak for dinner and then stayed up late watching Christmas movies together.

“Good morning, boys,” Donna said when Gerard and Mikey walked down into the kitchen. “How’d you sleep?”

Donna didn’t get much time off from her work, she was grateful that she got the day off on Christmas to spend some time with her sons.

“Good,” mikey said.

“Merry christmas,” she said, giving them both hugs.

“Merry Christmas, mom,” Gerard said.

They all sat down and ate happily.

“So, Gerard, how are things going with Frank?” Donna asked.

“They’re good, other than those stupid notes,” he said.

“And what about you and that other girl, Mikey?” Donald asked.

“Girl? What girl?” Donna asked.

“Mikey went on a date with a girl from school,” Donald said.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked. “You should have taken pictures for me. I missed your first date!”

“Don’t worry, mom, I stalked them and took secret photos of them for you,” Gerard said.

“Did you really?” Mikey gasped.

“No, no, of course not, that’s just weird,” Gerard said.

“I’m sorry I missed it,” Donna said. “Hopefully I’ll get to meet her. And I still haven’t met Frank, Gerard.”

Gerard just shrugged, taking a bite of his sugary pancakes. 

“Maybe I can try and invite him over later, he doesn’t usually do much for Christmas,” Gerard said. 

“That sounds nice, maybe him and his family can come over for dinner and watch movies with us,” Donna suggested. 

Gerard nodded, going to the fridge to get some juice. They finished eating and sat in the living room, opening gifts that their mom insisted was from Santa. The gifts mostly consisted of clothes and books, exactly what both boys wanted. 

They helped clean up the wrapping paper before Gerard went upstairs. He wasn’t sure if he should call Frank or not, he didn’t want to disrupt him if he was doing something. He decided to send him a quick text before laying on his bed. 

Gerard: Hey, do you and your mom wanna come over for dinner and to watch movies?

He sighed, looking at Mikey, who was adding his new books onto his shelf. It had to be in alphabetical order by author’s last name, Mikey wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“Have you asked Kristin out for the second date yet?” Gerard asked. 

“No,” Mikey said. “I’m waiting for the right time.”

“Don’t wait too long,” he recommended. 

Frank: sure, we would love to come over

Gerard: good, come over at like five or something and wear pajamas

Gerard sat up and went downstairs to find his mom. 

“They said they would come over,” Gerard told her. “Will you help me wrap Frank’s present?”

“What’d you get him?” Donna asked. 

“A guitar,” Gerard said. 

Gerard knew that he promised no gifts but when he saw the guitar seventy-five percent off at the thrift store he just couldn’t help himself. 

“You’re gonna have to learn how to wrap presents yourself, I won’t always be able to do it for you,” she said. 

Gerard nodded and she taught him how to wrap the gift. He could hardly wait all day and as soon as Frank came over, he tackled him in a hug. The parents all gave their friendly introductions before heading to the kitchen. That left frank and Gerard alone in the living room. 

“I got you something,” Gerard said. 

“We agreed on no gifts,” Frank said. 

Gerard handed him the box, a huge grin on his face. 

“This is big,” Frank said. “Gerard, come on. You know I don’t like gifts.”

“You can hate me all you want but just open it up first,” he said. 

Frank sighed and unwrapped the gift, freezing when he saw what it was. 

“A guitar?” He asked. “Y-you bought me my first guitar?”

“You like it?” Gerard asked. 

Frank looked up at him with watery eyes. 

“Gerard, this is amazing,” he whispered. “I-I don’t know how to repay you.”

“You don’t have to,” he said. “This is an apology gift to make up for all the bullshit that we’ve both had to put up with because of the notes. And as an apology for lindsey being a bitch to you.”

Frank pulled the acoustic guitar out of the box, strumming it a couple of times. 

“Gerard, oh my god, this is seriously the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” he said. “I-I don’t even know what to say. This is...holy shit.”

“I’m glad that you like it,” Gerard said.

Frank nodded, giving him a soft kiss.

“Boys! Dinner!” Donna called.

They went to the kitchen, all sitting around the table. 

“Thank you for inviting us over,” Linda said.

“Of course, I just hope we didn’t interrupt any plans that you might have had,” Donna said.

“Honestly, we aren’t too big on holidays,” she said. “But it’s so nice to finally meet you, Gerard has been such a sweetheart.”

“He always is,” she said, smiling proudly at her son.

Donald passed out plates and Frank looked like he might pass out at the large piece of reddish steak on his plate.

“Oh, I-I’m sorry, I forgot to say that Frank is a vegetarian,” Gerard said.

“Oh, I’m sorry, hon,” Donna said. “We still have the vegetables and mashed potatoes and if you want I can warm something up for you. We have some tofu I can cook up in just a few minutes.”

“No, it’s okay,” Frank said. “I-I’ve kind of lost my appetite, anyways.”

They ate quietly and Frank poked at his green beans, which were on a new, clean plate. It was mostly the adults who talked, having their quiet, polite conversations. Everyone moved to the living room and watched Christmas movies until it grew late.

“I need to get going, I have my shift starting at midnight,” Linda said. “Come on, Frankie, let’s go.”

“He’s allowed to stay the night, if he wants,” Donna offered.

“Can I, mom, please?” Frank asked.

“Alright, I will see you tomorrow, then,” Linda said. “Call me if you need anything.”

Frank nodded, giving her a hug before she left.

“I think we should all call it a night,” Donna said.

Everyone went upstairs to their rooms and Mikey sighed.

“I don’t wanna sleep in the same room as you two, you’re gross together,” he said. “I’m gonna go sleep on the pull out couch in the basement.”

“Alright, have fun,” Gerard said.

Mikey grabbed a change of clothes before going downstairs. Gerard gave Frank a change of clothes, turning around so he could change. They climbed into bed together, smiling happily.

“I’m really sorry, by the way, that I didn’t get you anything,” Frank mumbled.

“No, no, you don’t have to worry,” Gerard dismissed. “This is just an apology gift, I told you that. Just an apology. For all the shitty notes and you getting pulled into the police station and for Lindsey being a bitch.”

Frank sighed, resting his head on Gerard’s shoulder.

“Sorry about dinner, I forgot to tell my parents that you were a vegetarian,” he said.

“No, it’s okay,” Frank said.

“Guess I’ve got a lot to be sorry for,” Gerard mumbled.

“You don’t have to be sorry about anything,” Frank stated.

Gerard pulled Frank close, giving him a soft kiss.

“Although, I am starting to get a little bit hungry,” Frank said.

Gerard smiled and took his hand, sneaking down to the kitchen. They found a bag of chips and sat together on the floor as they ate. Gerard noticed that Frank was pretty quiet the entire time, he had been rather quiet all evening.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Frank said. 

“You just seem somewhat quiet,” he said. “I don’t know, I just wanna make sure that everything is okay with you. We have both been going through a lot recently with all these threats.”

“It’s nothing, it’s just that holidays in my house aren’t the greatest ever since my dad left,” Frank said. “So, basically my whole life. I know that holidays really upset my mom so thank you for inviting us over. It’s a better change than our usual Christmas evening.”

“Which is?” Gerard asked.

Frank sighed. “Board games, chinese takeout, old dvds.”

“Your mom works on Christmas?” Gerard asks.

“Yeah but she usually tries to get the night shifts so that way she gets to spend the day with me,” he said.

“Does she always work holidays?” He asked.

“Yeah but on Thanksgiving it’s cool because she works until the evening and they let her bring home two meals for free for the both of us,” Frank said. “And on Halloween she works the day shift and that night we always dress up in costumes and eat my discount cake with friends while we pass out candy.”

“Well, I’m sure my parents would love having you guys over for more holidays,” Gerard said. “They seem to really like you and your mom.”

Frank smiled, eating quietly.

“Are you nervous about seeing your dad?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah,” Frank sighed. “It always sucks being there. My stepbrothers are total twerps, they love to pull pranks on me. It is the worst.”

“Does your mom know that you hate going there?” Gerard asked.

“She knows it’s not my favorite but I try not to complain to her too much because I don’t want to put that stress on her,” he said. “It’s part of the custody agreement, I go there for birthday and Christmas.”

Gerard nodded, holding his hand.

“You know that I’ll always be here for you if you want to complain about your dad, right?” He asked and Frank nodded. “Or complain about anything else, for that matter.”

“Speaking of wanting to complain, anymore letters?” Frank asked.

“Nope, none at all,” Gerard said. “I would hope that this person has backed off but, honestly, it’s only been a few days so I can’t really tell. Whoever this is, they are just plain irritating.”

“Has Detective Orzechowski given you any sort of update?” Frank asked.

“Nothing so far,” Gerard mumbled. “And that creep is still out there, probably staring at us through one of the windows right now.”

“Ugh, don’t say that, that just gives me the creeps,” Frank said. “Honestly, half the time that we’re together it feels like someone is watching us.”

Gerard noticed that Frank’s fingers were bandaged up and he frowned.

“Hey, what happened?” He asked.

“Oh, nothing, it’s a long story,” Frank said. 

He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking down at his lap.

“You getting tired?” Gerard asked. “We could head up to bed, if you want.”

Frank nodded and Gerard put the chips away before leading him upstairs to bed. They laid together in the dark, listening to the clock on the dresser tick quietly. 

“You would tell me if something was wrong, right?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, it’s nothing,” Frank said. “It’s just that thinking about my dad usually gets me kind of upset.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you by bringing up your dad,” Gerard said. “Another reason for the apology gift.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” he said with a soft chuckle. “Gerard, I really like being with you, no matter what. You don’t need to get me apology gifts for working with the police or for talking to your rude ex-girlfriend.”

“Maybe I can make it up to you some other way,” Gerard said, his finger running over the waistband of Frank’s pajama pants.

“No, no,” Frank said with a small chuckle, brushing his hand away. “That sounds really nice and all but I’m tired.”

Gerard smiled, kissing Frank’s forehead. The two curled up together and fell asleep under the covers.


	18. Chapter 18

Frank wasn’t the biggest fan of Christmas but he always tried to keep his spirits high to help make his mom feel better. She worked everyday of the year to pay bills and try and buy Frank the nice things that he wanted.

“Good morning and Merry Christmas,” Linda said cheerily, opening the curtain to his room.

“Merry Christmas, mom,” Frank said.

“Come on, let’s get going, we can’t let a happy day like this go to waste,” she said. 

Frank followed her out, sitting on the couch with her.

“I didn’t wrap the gifts, I hope you don’t mind,” she said. “We ran out from last year and I didn’t want to pay for another roll.”

“No, of course it doesn’t matter,” Frank said.

Linda handed him a pair of jeans and a package of socks. That’s what gifts were typically like in the Iero household. Usually things needed, not wanted. Occasionally a new book or maybe a DVD found at a thrift store. Jeans were a common gift, he got them every year. His mom was always angry at him when he would fall while skating and rip a hole in his jeans, making her patch them up when she got done with a fourteen hour shift. He usually got socks every other year, alternating between socks and underwear.

“Thanks, mom,” Frank said, kissing her cheek.

“Check out the jeans, the lady at the store told me they were the newest style,” Linda said.

Frank held them up and saw a simple pair of dark blue skinny jeans with fake rips and black patches underneath it.

“Figured you’re always making me patch up your jeans, why not give you some pre-patched ones?” Linda asked with a small chuckle.

“These are pretty cool, mom, thanks,” Frank said.

“I kept the receipt if you don’t like them,” she said.

“No, mom, these are really cool, I’m serious,” he said. “There are a lot of kids wearing these nowadays at school.”

Frank went to his room and came back with a little neatly wrapped box.

“Jamia helped me pick it out, I will admit that,” Frank said. 

Linda opened the box, expecting to see something like a package of new pens (which she went through like water as a waitress) or maybe some homemade art project from school. She certainly wasn’t expecting a velvet box and a pair of nice earrings inside.

“Baby,” she sighed. 

“I’ve been at the job for over a year now so I got a Christmas bonus this year,” Frank said. “And you always work so hard, you deserve something nice for once.”

Frank knew that the nicest thing she owned was her old wedding ring, something she couldn’t find within herself to part with. The next nicest thing was an old Walmart necklace.

“Where’d you get this?” She asked.

“Kay jewelers, I know you always like to look in there when we go to the mall,” he said. “I was gonna go with these earrings that had these purple gems but then Jamia told me I should get these instead.”

They were circle with a gold rim and a silver gem in the center.

“It’s 14K yellow gold,” Frank said.

“Baby, this is amazing,” Linda said with teary eyes. “How much did this cost you?”

“It doesn’t matter, it wasn’t even my whole bonus,” he said. “I put the rest of my bonus in the cookie jar with the rest of the rainy day money.”

“How did I ever deserve such an amazing son like you?” She asked.

Frank gave her a hug before she stood up.

“So, what would you like for breakfast?” She asked. “Cheerios or Frosties?”

“Frosties,” Frank said.

She nodded, grabbing two bowls from the cabinet. 

“Is this all we got in the mail yesterday?” She asked, picking up the pile of letters.

Frank nodded, knowing he was lying to her. Every year his stepmom sent them a Christmas card. He remembered watching her cry over them when he was younger, she was so upset to see her husband off with a new wife and new kids. So, Frank started taking them and hiding them before she could see them when he was six. It was always his job to get the mail, it made it really easy.

“You going to Jamia’s after breakfast like you usually do?” Linda asked.

“Yeah, I won’t be gone too long, just going to give her the gift I got for her,” he said.

“Tell her and her mother that I said hello,” she said. “We really should all have dinner together, we haven’t done that in a long time. It’s just...it’s hard with my busy schedule and all.”

“It’s okay, mom,” Frank said. “They know you’re busy but I’m sure they would love to hang out, too.”

She nodded and she poured them both cereal, sitting at the table together.

“So, for dinner are we thinking about getting our normal lo mein order or maybe get some general chicken?” Linda asked. “Or maybe something spicy just to, you know, spice things up.”

“Whatever you want is fine,” Frank said with a small chuckle. “You can pick.”

“We’ll pull out the menu and choose later,” she said. “I got some more peanut butter, we can make sandwiches for lunch.”

Frank nodded, eating quietly.

“So, how is school going?” She asked. “How’s Debby?”

“It’s good, she’s good,” he said. “They’re pretty nervous but excited about the baby.”

“Well, I’ve still got some of your old baby stuff,” she said. “They can maybe have some of your old clothes and stuff. Although, you were a pretty small baby.”

Frank sighed, smiling softly. They finished up and Frank volunteered to wash the dishes. He grabbed the Christmas card from under his pillow before heading off to Jamia’s. She opened the door when he knocked and sighed.

“Is it time?” Jamia asked.

Frank nodded and they went out to the backyard under the big tree that was there. Frank got on his knees and began digging with his hands, trying to get through the slightly frozen dirt. He winced but eventually dug deep enough to find the box and pull it out.

Inside were other Christmas cards that he’s hidden over the years. There were a few letters written from his stepmom to Linda. Half-hearted messages that he knew would only break his mom’s heart.

“I don’t know why you always insist on doing this,” Jamia mumbled, pulling her jacket tighter around herself.

Frank put the card into the box before putting the box back into the ground. He cried quietly, covering it back up. He lived in an apartment, no yard for himself. So, he used Jamia’s yard to bury it in.

“Why did he leave us, Mia?” Frank whispered. “Was I not good enough?”

“Frank, you were just a baby,” she said. “This isn’t your fault.”

“It’s not like anything is good between us, though,” he said. “It’s not like he likes me or anything and I’m not just a baby. There has to be something wrong with me if he still doesn’t like me.”

“Frankie, your dad is just a prick, he isn’t even that much nicer to your stepbrothers,” Jamia said. “You don’t need his approval from him. He shouldn’t have left you and your mom the way that he did. He’s just an asshole and you shouldn’t have to be here on Christmas worrying about him.”

Frank nodded, sniffling and wiping his eyes.

“Come on, come inside and I’ll make us some cocoa,” she said.

They went inside and Frank looked at his bleeding fingers.

“This happens every year,” Jamia said, tossing him bandages. “You can use a shovel, you know, they exist for a reason.”

Frank wrapped up his fingers while Jamia made them hot chocolate. Her younger brother drove his toy car into Frank’s foot repeatedly until Jamia kicked it away.

“Mommy! Jamia kicked my toy!” Evan shouted.

Mrs. Nestor came in with a small sigh.

“Leave the big kids alone, Evan,” she said. “Merry Christmas, Frank, I haven’t seen you around lately. How has your mother been?”

“She’s good,” he said. “She says hi.”

Mrs. Nestor smiled before leaving the kitchen with Evan. Jamia sat down with two mugs.

“So, how did your mom like the earrings?” She asked.

“Oh, she loved them,” Frank said.

“Did you get anything for Gerard?” She asked.

Frank shook his head. “I would like to and all but we promised no presents because of the money. Besides, I feel like I would get him the worst present ever. Like an art set or something but there’s just nothing sentimental about that. Besides, I don’t know anything about art. I would probably end up getting some crap stuff anyways without realizing it.”

“I’m sure that he would love anything from you,” she said. “You two are really great together.”

Frank’s phone buzzed and he smiled when he saw the text from Gerard.

Gerard: Hey, do you and your mom wanna come over for dinner and to watch movies?

Frank smiled, quickly drinking his hot chocolate.

“I should get going, I don’t want to intrude on your family’s Christmas for too long,” he said. “I shouldn’t leave my mom for too long, anyways. I told her I was giving her a present, like I always do.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you later,” Jamia said.

Frank gave her a hug before walking back to his apartment. He sighed, looking around for his mom. He heard quiet crying from the bedroom and he went in. She was with the DVD player and he knew she was playing this old home movie of Frank’s first Christmas when he was only two months old and they were all a happy family.

“Mom, don’t do this to yourself,” Frank sighed. “Stop watching that home movie. Mom, he’s a dick. He doesn’t care about us.”

Linda nodded, wiping her eyes.

“I-I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I-I need to move on. I need to stop. Let’s make some cookies. Do you want some cookies, dear?”

“Gerard actually invited us over for dinner and to watch some movies,” he said. 

“Oh, I don’t know, I don’t want to intrude,” Linda said. “We always watch movies and eat takeout.”

“Aren’t you bored of watching the same ten movies over and over again?” Frank asked. “I really like Gerard and I want you to meet his family. I know we haven’t been together for the longest but I just feel like we have a real connection and I think that we’re really gonna be something. You know I wouldn’t date someone unless it were to be serious.”

“Well, if it’s okay with his parents then that’s alright,” she said. “And you know what, it actually sounds kind of nice.”

“Okay but you have to put this stuff away, mom,” Frank stated. “Watching this won’t be any good for you.”

Linda nodded, crying quietly as she shut the DVD player. Frank sat down, wrapping his arms around her. 

“It’s okay, mom, it’s gonna be okay,” he whispered. 

Linda cried into his shoulder, nodding her head. They just sat there for a while, Frank comforting her the whole time. 

“Come on, let’s go play some cards,” Frank said. “We can play speed, if you want.”

Linda sniffled, wiping her eyes. 

“You’re such a good boy,” she sighed. “I know you haven’t had the easiest life but having you here with me makes it all worth it. I don’t know what I would do without you, Frankie.”

Frank smiled and kissed her cheek. 

“So, Gerard really makes you happy?” She asked and frank nodded. “I’m glad, I hope that you find someone who makes you happy and you can spend a happy life with. Someone who can actually commit without just dicking off.”


	19. Chapter 19

Frank still felt a little bit bad that Gerard had gotten him a gift and he didn’t give him anything in return. He has yet to set his guitar down in the two days since he’s gotten it. Linda asks him to play her a song every night when she gets home from her shifts. He wasn’t the best but she still loved it all the same.

“Be careful or else your fingers will bleed,” Linda joked, watching Frank play the guitar on the couch.

“The man at the music shop gave me this book for only a dollar,” Frank said. “He told me I was doing really good really fast. Told me I could be someone, make something out of this.”

Linda smiled but the two both knew it wasn’t true. It wasn’t practical. They knew he needed to go to college, get a good scholarship and a good job. Linda didn’t want her son to continue on with the way they lived, she wanted something better for him. Frank wanted a better life for his future family, too. He didn’t want his family to work so hard just to survive on the bare minimum.

“I was thinking that maybe I can play a bit in the streets when I get better to help earn some money,” he said. 

“I think that sounds like a great idea,” Linda agreed. “And you keep all the money you earn from that for yourself.”

“No, that’s okay, it can go to the bills or the rainy day fund,” Frank said.

“Frankie, you deserve it,” she said. “Keep that money for yourself. Save up for maybe some new movies or to take Gerard out to dinner. Maybe even save up enough to get yourself an electric guitar.”

“That would be cool,” Frank said. “I could really rock out then.”

Linda smiled, cleaning the dishes from their lunch.

“Frankie, play me a song I can dance to,” she said.

Frank smiled, trying his best to play an upbeat song that he couldn’t remember the name of. He smiled as Linda danced around the kitchen, her skirt swaying around her. It was moments like this that Frank never wanted to end but of course it did when her phone buzzed, giving her the alert that it was time to leave for work.

“I unfortunately got stuck with the graveyard shift so I won’t be home until two,” Linda said.

“In the morning?” Frank asked and she nodded. “Mom, they can’t keep putting you in these shifts, there has to be some kind of rule against it.”

“It’s fine, sweetheart, I don’t mind,” she said. “Besides, the best tippers usually come later in the night.”

“Okay, well, be careful,” he said. 

Linda smiled and kissed his cheek.

“You’re the sweetest,” she said. “I’ll see you in the morning. Maybe you can invite Jamia over, help keep you company.”

Frank smiled and nodded, watching her leave. He got up and put the guitar down. He cleaned up everything, turning off the lights and lighting candles instead. Gerard came up just when he was supposed to, giving him a hug.

“I missed you,” he said.

“I missed you too,” Frank replied.

Frank held out a single red rose.

“I was gonna get you a whole bouquet but it turns out that roses are expensive so I just got you one,” he said.

Gerard smiled, gently taking it from his hand.

“I love it, thank you,” he said.

“And I was thinking that maybe we could...you know,” Frank trailed off as he looked down, his fingers playing with Gerard’s jacket zipper.

“Are you sure?” Gerard asked and Frank nodded.

Gerard pulled Frank to his room, smiling at the candles flickering in the dark room. Frank stood a little awkwardly while Gerard did something on his phone. He played some music before setting his phone down and holding his hips.

“Do you, uh, have condoms?” Gerard asked.

Frank blushed, looking down.

“No, I-I didn’t think about that,” he said. “I’m sorry. I-I should’ve thought more ahead.”

“It’s okay,” Gerard said. “You just wait here, I’ll run to the gas station on the corner. Any preferences?”

“No, I-I don’t really know,” Frank said.

“I will be right back, be here ready for me,” he said.

Gerard left and Frank bit his lip nervously. He fussed with the sheets before looking in the mirror and trying to fix his hair. He took off his jacket. Then put on his jacket. Then sighed and took it off again. He waited on the bed and sighed in relief when Gerard got back with a box of condoms.

“You can stop whenever you want,” he said.

Frank nodded as Gerard sat beside him. Gerard leaned in, kissing him slowly. Frank was nervous but the music helped him relax.

“Can I take your shirt off?” Gerard asked.

Frank nodded and Gerard took it off, tossing it into the corner.

“You’re so beautiful,” Gerard whispered.

He gently pushed him back against the bed and ran his hand over his chest. Gerard took off his own shirt, moving to straddle Frank’s hips. He ground down against him slowly. It was slow and intimate between them, everything Frank had wished it was his first time. It wasn’t messy or pressured. It was sweet and calm.

Gerard kissed down Frank’s chest holding him close. Frank could feel that bubbling pleasure but he was trying to not seem too eager or fast. Gerard stopped at his jeans before looking up at Frank for permission. Frank nodded and Gerard pulled off his jeans and boxers. Frank took in a sharp breath when Gerard’s hand wrapped around his erection.

Gerard leaned up and kissed Frank roughly. Frank pulled at Gerard’s belt and he took the message, taking off the rest of his clothes. Gerard picked up Frank’s hand, sucking on his fingers. Frank moved his hand down, slowly pushing one finger into Gerard’s ass.

Frank thought he was already on cloud nine. I mean, how could it get any better than this? He was here, in bed, fingering his boyfriend. And dear god, the little moans his boyfriend was making was so good that he didn’t want it to stop.

“Grab a condom,” Gerard whispered.

Frank nodded, pulling his hands away. He reached into the box and pulled out a condom, slipping it on with shaky hands.

“I got some lube too,” Gerard said, reaching for it. “It’s strawberry flavored.”

Gerard popped the cap and Frank took a whiff.

“It smells like jolly ranchers,” Frank said with a nervous chuckle.

Gerard smiled, kissing his forehead. He spread lube over him before setting the bottle aside.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Gerard asked.

“Yes,” Frank said in a soft voice.

Gerard gave him a gentle kiss before slowly sinking down onto him. If Frank thought he was on cloud nine before, he definitely was not prepared for this. He groaned, holding onto Gerard’s hips. 

“You okay?” Gerard asked.

Frank nodded, barely even remembering how to speak. Gerard slowly began rocking his hips, creating a rhythm. Frank loved the look of pleasure on Gerard’s face and loved the way his fingernails were pressing gently into his chest.

“Shit, Baby,” Gerard breathed.

Frank could feel his whole body on fire. He couldn’t get enough, panting heavily. Gerard quickened his pace as he bounced on Frank’s lap, tossing back his bright red hair. Frank was getting close far faster than he would have liked. Gerard was just so tight around him and he was moaning in a way that was practically music to Frank’s ears.

Gerard took Frank’s hand, wrapping it around his erection. Frank stroked him quickly as Gerard leaned down and sucked on his neck. Gerard was moaning in ways that Frank has seen in porn and for a split second he began to worry. What if he was faking it?

“I-Is--are you good?” Frank finally managed to choke out.

Gerard nodded. “Yeah, oh god, oh I’m close.”

Frank nodded, stroking him faster. It took everything within himself to hold it in but soon Frank was coming. He thought he could pass out from how good it felt. Gerard pulled off and pushed Frank’s hand away when it just became tired, lazy strokes. He jerked himself off and it didn’t take long before he was coming over Frank’s chest.

“Shit,” he breathed out.

Gerard went to the bathroom and came back, cleaning Frank off and throwing away the condom. He laid in bed with Frank, pulling the covers up. Frank was tired, still trying to catch his breath.

“Was that okay?” Gerard asked, brushing the brown hair out of his face.

“Amazing,” Frank whispered. “And you? I-It’s okay, right?”

“Yeah, of course it was,” he said. “Are you okay, Frank?”

“Yeah, I’m just worried that maybe it wasn’t as good for you as it was for me,” Frank admitted. “I-I don’t really know what I’m doing and, you know, the first time I did it my, um, my partner wasn’t too...pleasured, I guess you could say.”

“Don’t worry, Baby, it was really good,” Gerard said. “You were perfect. So beautiful. And, honestly, you have a really good dick.”

Frank blushed, looking down.

“Y-you’re really pretty too,” he said. “More than pretty. It’s like I’m staring at the sun when I look at you. Like, it’s so beautiful and I probably shouldn’t be staring but not because I’ll go blind but because I’ll look like a total creep.”

Gerard smiled, laying his head down on Frank’s chest.

“What time does your mom get home?” He asked.

“Not for a little while,” Frank said.

“Does she know that I was coming over or do I need to leave before she gets home?” Gerard asked.

“I don’t think you have to leave but we should probably put clothes on first,” he said. “Do you wanna smoke some pot?”

“Thought you weren’t allowed to do it without a window open?” Gerard asked. “There’s no windows in here.”

“One joint one matter,” he said.

Frank got up and reached into his sock drawer. He grabbed a joint and a lighter before sitting back on the bed with Gerard.

“I haven’t smoked in a while,” Frank admitted. “Can’t really do it much in the apartment and it’s too cold to do it out at the park.”

He took a hit before exhaling slowly. Gerard took it next, smiling softly.

“I’m glad that we did this,” Frank said quietly. “It was really nice. And, I don’t know, maybe it sounds a little weird but it was kind of like a do over for me, a do over of my first time.”

“I’m glad that I could be a do over for you, I hope that it was okay for a redo,” Gerard said.

“It was...oh god,” Frank mumbled. “It really was amazing. I couldn’t believe how good it was. I was expecting it to be good but not quite that good.”

Gerard chuckled, kissing his cheek.

“Does it, um, does it hurt?” Frank asked. “You know, to be a bottom.”

“Well, it does a bit at first but honestly I don’t mind the pain, I actually kind of like the pain,” he said. “But, well, the pain does go away and then it feels really, really good. It hurts for a little bit but then it goes away. Stretching helps. Then it’s like...I don’t even know how to explain it. Maybe, if you want, we can switch. I don’t mind being a top.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he said. “I-It sounds good but I feel like it would hurt.”

“You’ve never even fingered yourself before?” Gerard asked and Frank blushed as he shook his head. “You should try it, prostate stimulation is amazing.”

Frank blushed at the topic.

“Y-yeah, I-I guess I’ll try it,” Frank said with a blush.

“Speaking of, you did last longer than I thought you would,” he said. “Have you been spending a lot of time with your right hand?”

Frank swatted his shoulder, shaking his head.

“I’m just older now, more mature,” he said.

Gerard smiled. “I know, I’m just teasing. Come on, let’s go get food.”

“I’m kinda sleepy, I don’t really wanna go out,” he said.

“Well then wait here and I will go out to the kitchen to scrounge something up,” Gerard said.

Frank smiled, laying in bed with his joint as he watch Gerard leave but he ended up falling asleep before he got back.


	20. Chapter 20

Gerard was always cautious of his little brother. Always wanting to protect him. Always proud of his achievements. And right now he was proud of him for going on his third date with Kristin and officially asking her to be his girlfriend.

“Gerard, will you stop?” Mikey asked, taking off his jacket.

“No, I’m proud of you,” Gerard said.

“God, whatever,” he said. “This was on the porch for you, by the way.”

Gerard saw a red envelope in his hand and he sighed. He opened it up and read the letter, made out of cut out newspapers again.

_Have you heard the news? Check your phone._

Gerard frowned in confusion, grabbing his phone. He didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, though. But soon he started to get texts from friends, all sending him links. Gerard opened it up and saw a video on a porn site. There was a black screen with words at the beginning.

_Just to let you know that you’re not special, Frank._

And then the video started and Gerard thought that he might throw up. It was a video taken just a week before he moved to Belleville. He doesn’t know why he did, him and Lindsey just thought it would be good to have since they wouldn’t be able to see each other much. He was regretting it now.

“Eew, what the fuck, why did someone just send me your sex tape with Lindsey?” Mikey asked. “Ugh, this is disgusting.”

He tossed his phone on the bed, shaking his head as he gagged.

“Oh god, I will never be able to forget that,” Mikey muttered. “Can you please get me a spoon so I could gouge my eyes out.”

“Lindsey and I were the only ones with this video,” he said. “Why would she do this?”

“Clearly to make Frank feel bad,” mikey said. 

Gerard was given a second link and a second video on the same site. This one was probably worse, far worse.

“Fuck, oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck,” he muttered. “I-I need to call Frank.”

He dialed his boyfriend’s number and it almost went to voicemail before someone finally answered.

“Hello?” A quiet voice asked.

“Frankie,” Gerard said. “Oh god, you’ve seen it, haven’t you?”

It was quiet.

“Yeah,” Frank whispered. “Both of them.”

“Can I come over?” He asked. 

“I don’t think that’s a really good idea, Gerard,” Frank stated.

“Please, I’m sorry,” Gerard said. “We need to talk. I’m sorry because--”

“It’s not my business,” he interrupted. “It was before I met you.”

“Frankie, you’re my boyfriend and so this kind of involves you too,” he said. “Please, we can go out for coffee if you want. To that really good place with the awesome donuts.”

“I have to get ready for my dad’s,” Frank said.

“Frankie, you’re upset and I know that,” Gerard said. “It’s okay to be upset, I get it. I’m upset too. We just need to talk this over.”

“I just don’t really feel much like talking right now,” Frank mumbled.

“Frankie, please,” he whispered. “I need you. I need to talk to you.”

“I-I have to go,” Frank said.

He hung up and Gerard stared at his phone.

“How did Lindsey get the second video?” Mikey asked.

“Because I showed it to her,” Gerard mumbled. “God, how could I have been so stupid?”

“I told you, Gerard, she is fucking psychotic,” he said.

Gerard called Lindsey next.

“Why did you do this?” He asked.

“What ever may you be talking about?” Lindsey asked innocently.

“You fucking posted my sex tapes online,” he said. “Why the fucking hell would you do that?”

“Did Frank see it?” She asked. 

“Lindsey--”

“Why won’t you just come back?” She interrupted. “Come on, it was better back when you were here. Even if you don’t come back we can still have a relationship if you just break up with that kid.”

“This is low, Lindsey, even for you,” Gerard said. 

“Oh come on, it’s not like it matters,” she said. “Nearly all of Brunswick has had sex with you and I’m sure it’s like that for Belleville, too.”

“I’m different now, Lindsey,” he said. “I don’t do that anymore. I am dating Frank and I am really happy with him. He is the only person I have slept with since moving here. The only person I want to sleep with.”

“Now everyone can see our love,” she said.

“Why the second one?” He asked. “You’re not even in it and it is so much worse. Lindsey, the second one could ruin me. Like, really ruin. I could be declined from colleges because of it.”

“Well, you can always come live with me,” she said.

Gerard shook his head, hanging up on her.

“What’s so bad about the second one?” Mikey asked.

“I-I can’t tell you,” he said.

“I don’t wanna watch it, it’s disgusting,” he said. “I don’t wanna be scarred.”

“Good, don’t watch,” he said.

“But that was a letter,” Mikey said. “Which means that Lindsey has been the one sending you these letters. You need to tell the Detective Ozo lady.”

“No, we cannot tell anyone about this letter, understand?” Gerard asked.

“Why not?” He asked. “This has a clear connection to her.”

“Mikey, no one can know,” he said. “Not a single adult can know.”

“Gerard--”

“Mikey, I can be arrested,” Gerard interrupted. “I-I’m seventeen, I created child pornography. They can’t know about this.”

“But it’s clearly Lindsey who is the psychotic one sending the messages,” he said.

“And I will deal with her,” he said. “But you can’t tell anyone anything about these videos or else I could get into a lot of trouble.”

“You need to tell someone,” he said. “At least Detective Ozo.”

“Especially not her, and it’s Detective Orzechowski, not Ozo,” he corrected. “It looks like only a few people from the school have gotten it so far. I’m sure it’ll spread. We just need to make sure that not a single adult sees it because an adult will report it to the police which will get me in trouble. I can’t go to prison, Mikey, have you seen me? I’m too pretty to go to prison.”

“A little too cocky also,” Mikey mumbled.

“I’m serious,” he said.

“Fine but since you’ve found out who is sending the letters, you have to stop her,” he said. “You’ll be able to stop her without going to the police. Just have a conversation with her face to face. Maybe bring some pepper spray, though.”

Gerard sighed, burying his head in his hands.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” he said. “I-I can’t believe it. What if this ruins things with Frank? I-I’m actually really happy for the first time in a long time. I didn’t think I would ever want to be in a real relationship but I am and I like it a lot. And now it might all be ruined just because I wanted to make a few sex tapes.”

“Frank likes you a lot, I don’t think he’ll leave you because of this,” he said. “He maybe just needs some time.”

Gerard nodded, laying back on his bed.

“So, when are you going to meet with her?” He asked.

“I don’t know, I really don’t feel like going back up to Brunswick,” he mumbled.

“It makes sense, you know, she was at the party and at the dance where the pictures were taken, she knows everything about you, she has both of the sex tapes,” Mikey listed. “Maybe Ozo can get you exonerated of the child porn and so that way Lindsey can be charged with harassment and legal action can be taken against her.”

“But that’s only a slim chance,” he said. “What if she doesn’t? What if I get in trouble?”

Mikey’s phone buzzed and he picked it up before grimacing.

“Oh, disgusting, someone sent me a screenshot from the second video,” Mikey said. “I-is that...is that a whip?”

“Shut up, just...never tell a soul,” Gerard said. “Or else I swear I will hurt you.”

“Yeah, okay, I don’t really want anyone to know that my brother is a pornstar anyways,” he said.

“Oh my god, this could ruin me,” he said. “It can actually, really ruin me. No college, no good job. Oh god, oh god.”

“Why’d you make them anyways if they were obviously such a bad idea?” Mikey asked.

Gerard sighed. “I don’t know. Lindsey and I weren’t going to be seeing each other very often anymore and we thought that having a video of us would be good for when we were, you know, missing each other.”

“Ew, I don’t know if it’s worse for you to phrase it like that or to just say horny,” Mikey mumbled. “But what about the second one?”

“I-I don’t know,” he said. “He wanted to make the video. And, well, Lindsey was curious about him so I wanted to show Lindsey, too.”

“Ew, this is gross,” Mikey said. “I can tell you that I am never gonna be making a sex tape, I don’t want half the school seeing my dick. I know you probably don’t care because you already like to sleep with half the school but I’m not about that life.”

Gerard’s phone was still going off and he answered some texts to let people know he already knew about the videos. He wasn’t sure what to do. He knew he needed to talk to Frank. He’s the most important part of his life right now and he needed to fix that first. Then he would meet with Lindsey and tell her to leave him alone and stop sending all the stupid little notes.

“So, have you told Frank that you love him?” Mikey asked.

“We’ve only been together for about a month,” Gerard said.

“Yeah but you know you’re falling for him, we can both tell,” he said. “You know, I think it’s actually nice that you were able to find someone instead of slutting around everywhere.”

“‘Slutting around?’” Gerard asked. “That is so mean. You know, you are so much meaner to me than I am to you. Stop slut shaming me all the time.”

Mikey sat on his own bed, ignoring the texts from his friends that were most likely about his brother. 

“Gerard, what if mom and dad find out about this?” Mikey asked.

“They can’t, Mikey,” he said. “Seriously, do you know how much trouble I would get in? They would kill me. Probably literally kill me.”

“Well, if you ever need to at least you know you could make a business out of making porn,” Mikey said.

Gerard groaned, turning his back to his brother. Mikey decided not to say anything more and changed into some pajamas before going to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Gerard pulled out his phone, looking at the videos again. Watching himself in bed with Lindsey and that man...just made his stomach twist. Maybe in the past he might’ve stuck his hand down his pants while watching but now he just wanted it gone. Now he just wanted Frank.

He reported the videos to get them taken down but knew that it might take a day. He tried to get off his phone so he turned off his wifi and notifications. Instead, he just put in his headphones and listened to music. He didn’t care when his brother came in and turned off the lights. He just closed his eyes and thought back to him and Frank last night when they were intimate.

It wasn’t in a sexual way, he just wanted to remember the last time everything felt perfect. He missed the calmness. He missed the intimacy. He missed the love and connection that was between them. Gerard really didn’t want anything to be ruined between them, it was the first time he ever felt anything that was actually real. He didn’t want to lose Frank. No matter what, he knew he couldn’t lose Frank.


	21. Chapter 21

Frank was never in a good mood when he had to go to his dad’s. This year, it was even worse.

“What’s wrong?” Linda asked over breakfast. “Come on, you were a little bummed about your dad’s last night but you weren’t nearly this upset. Did you and Jamia get into another fight? I don’t get why you two always fight. You’ve always done that since you were little kids.”

“No, mom, it isn’t Jamia,” he mumbled. “It’s nothing.”

He really wasn’t wanting to tell his mom about his boyfriend’s sex tapes. 

“Well,” she sighed. “You have everything ready? Eve will be here to pick you up soon.”

“Yeah,” Frank sighed. “Haworth sucks, by the way. It’s filled of rich snobs. If we ever win the lottery then we are not moving to Haworth like dad did.”

Linda smiled softly and nodded.

“Finish eating,” she said.

Frank ate the rest of his cereal before cleaning up the dishes. There was a buzz and he sighed, grabbing his backpack.

“Try to have some fun, Baby,” Linda said. “And call me if you need anything at all.”

Frank nodded, giving her a hug before walking down. Eve’s fancy car stuck out from all the rest as he slid into the passenger seat and forced a smile to his stepmom.

“Hello, Frank,” she said. 

“Hi, Eve,” Frank mumbled.

She drove off, turning on the music. It was silent and awkward between them but soon they arrived in Haworth, New Jersey. Or, as Frank liked to call it, Hell. They pulled up to the house. God, Frank hated this house. His dad always liked to brag about how big it was and how much it was worth. Frank didn’t care about the stupid house and how it had seven bedrooms and about how it cost almost two million dollars.

“I made some snacks,” Eve said. “The boys will be back soon, they went to go grocery shopping for me.”

They went inside and Frank gasped happily. The only good part about visiting his dad was that they had a dog. Lucky was a gold retriever and Frank loved her, he always wanted a dog.

“Lucky!” He cheered. “Oh, I missed you!”

He gave her a hug, smiling happily.

“Your dad should be back from work soon,” Eve said. “He is very excited to see you.”

“You don’t have to lie,” Frank said.

The place was still decorated and Frank was sure they hired someone else to do it for them. Probably one of their maids. Frank went to go upstairs when his stepmom grimaced.

“Sorry, could you take off your muddy shoes?” She asked. “Mariana just cleaned the marble floors. I can have her wash them for you and those dirty jeans too.”

“I just washed these jeans,” Frank said.

Eve pursed her lips and Frank just sighed, kicking his shoes off. He went upstairs down the hall to his room. It was mostly empty, Eve always encouraged him to decorate it or add more of his stuff to it so he could visit more often but he never did.

He dropped his bag on the bed and pulled out his phone. His friends were still texting him, asking him if he’s seen the videos but he was ignoring them. He didn’t really feel like talking about them to anyone. He knew he had to face Gerard eventually but he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

“Hello, Frank,” Mariana greeted and Frank smiled. “Miss Eve wanted me to wash your jeans.”

“No, it’s okay, you don’t have to do that,” Frank said. “And not my shoes either.”

She nodded and left the room. Frank hated having their maids do stuff for him, he always felt so bad. Frank just scrolled through his phone, not knowing what else to do until he heard the door open and footsteps started thundering up the stairs. Someone grabbed Frank and held him down and he fought against them before gagging when another person farted in his face.

“Twerp!” They yelled before running out.

God, he hated his step brothers. Justin was twenty-four and Jake was twenty-two but they acted like they were ten. And they loved nothing more than to pick on Frank, they always have ever since they were younger.

His dad came home an hour later and they all went around to have lunch. His dad barely even said a hello to him before they started eating their pasta. Jake and Justin kept snickering the whole time while Eve tried to make pleasant conversation.

“So, Frank, do you have a girlfriend?” She asked.

“No,” Frank said quietly.

“He’s too much of a loser to get one,” Justin said.

“That isn’t very nice,” Eve said.

“You smell like pot,” Frank Sr said in disgust. “Take a shower after this.”

Frank frowned, eating quietly.

“What’s in this?” He asked.

“It’s just normal pasta,” Eve said. “I made yours without meat.”

The step brothers snickered again and Frank Sr sighed.

“You two need to shut your mouths,” he said. “You’re getting on my nerves. Why are you laughing?”

“We put meat in Frank’s pasta,” Jake said.

Frank froze, staring at his already half eaten plate as his stomach began to twist. 

“Boys, you know he doesn’t eat meat,” Eve sighed.

Frank began to start gagging before he ran off to the bathroom to throw up. He was sobbing as he laid on the cold tile floor, thankful when Lucky came up to cuddle with him. No one else came to check on him. Not for the whole night as he laid there crying.

He couldn’t eat that night at dinner. He just sat and stared at his plate. His family was having steak for dinner. And dear god, Jake and his dad liked to eat it practically raw. Even if Frank hadn’t been sick, he still wouldn’t have eaten because of how disgusting it was to watch them.

“Hey, Pansy,” Jake said.

He chucked a piece of steak at him and Frank gagged at the sight of blood staining his shirt. He hurried off to the bathroom again, trying to clean off his shirt.

“Here, Frank, let me clean it for you,” Mariana offered.

Frank sniffled, taking off his shirt.

“Those boys are going to get what’s coming for them one day,” she mumbled before walking off to the laundry room.

Frank went up to his room and just cried in his bed. He called Gerard, holding the phone up to his ear with a shaky hand.

“I hate my Other Family,” he sobbed when someone answered. “They are so awful.”

“Frankie? What happened?” Gerard asked.

“They fed me meat,” he whimpered. “They threw bloody steak at me. It...it sounds stupid when I say it now. I’m sorry, you’re probably busy and I shouldn’t call.”

“No, I’ve been wanting call you,” Gerard said. “It’s not stupid, that’s really awful what they did to you.”

Frank sniffled, pulling his blanket up over his head.

“When do you get back tomorrow?” Gerard asked.

“At about ten in the morning,” he said.

“Do you think we could get coffee and talk about it?” He asked. “About...you know, the videos.”

“I’m sorry, Gerard, I shouldn’t have blown you off last night but I was just upset,” he said. “We should talk now.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t want things to be ruined between us, I really like you a lot and I don’t want to lose you just because of some stupid shit that I did.”

“It doesn’t matter, it was before you met me so I don’t really have a say in it anyways,” Frank mumbled.

“Just because it happened before we met doesn’t mean that you don’t have a right to be upset by it,” he said. “It’s okay for you to be upset, Frankie. Seriously, I wish I had never made those videos. It was stupid of me.”

Frank sniffled. “Who was the man in the second video?”

“It was… it was a man, I don’t know his name,” Gerard admitted. “But it was a man who would...pay me to have sex with him. He would pay me a lot of money.”

“How old was he?” Frank asked.

“I don’t know, he was like thirty-two,” he said. “I was sixteen and dumb.”

“How long did it go on for?” Frank asked.

“I don’t know, a year and a half,” he said.

Frank sniffled, wiping his eyes. He saw the video, saw the way Gerard was tied and gagged and being whipped.

“I’m sorry if that’s what you like and I can’t give it to you,” he whispered.

“Frankie, it’s perfect with you,” gerard said. “I love it with you. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

But Frank had seen the video, seen how much Gerard had moaned and begged. Frank wasn’t dominant enough to do anything like that, not confident enough. He couldn’t tie his boyfriend up and hurt him even if he asked him to do it.

“Frankie, I only want you,” he said.

“Was Lindsey the one to post these videos?” Frank asked.

“Yeah and I am going to chew her out, probably won’t talk to her again after this,” he said. “But I just wanted to get everything situated with you first. I wanted to make sure that you were okay after all of this.”

“A-are you okay?” Frank asked. “They’re your videos that were shown.”

“Humiliated but I’ll be okay just as long as I don’t get in trouble for this,” he said. “I’ve gotten the videos taken down.”

It was quiet between them, neither really knew what to say.

“This didn’t ruin anything between us, did it?” Gerard asked quietly.

“No, it didn’t,” Frank replied. “I’m maybe not totally happy about seeing you sleep with other people but it’s not like I never knew that it happened. It’s just weird and kind of gross. I’m sorry. I still really want to be with you because I really like you.”

The blanket was pulled off of Frank and someone snatched the phone from his hand.

“Thought you told mom you didn’t have a girlfriend,” Jake teased.

“Oh my god, look at the caller ID,” Justin said. “He’s talking to a boy.”

“Give me my phone back!” Frank shouted.

“Oh my god, you’re gay,” Jake said, hanging the phone up and tossing it back to him. “Hey, dad, guess what? Frank is gay!”

Frank felt his heart stop as he shook his head, chasing them down the stairs.

“I’m not,” he denied. “I’m not gay, I’m not!”

They got to the living room where his dad and stepmom were.

“Frank was on the phone with a boy talking about how much he liked him and wanted to be with him,” Justin said.

Frank Sr. stood up, walking over to Frank. He could barely breathe as his dad slowly walked over and looked him down. Next thing he knew he was on the ground, smacked across the face by his dad. He was sobbing, curled up in a tight ball. They all left except for Eve, who kneeled beside him.

“It’s okay if you’re attracted to other guys,” she whispered and Frank sniffled. “Everyone can change, even you. One day you’ll be able to learn to get over this.”

She left him on the floor, shaking and sobbing. He finally managed to stand up and go to grab his bag. Frank walked out of the house and down the street, crying quietly as it snowed around him. He didn’t want to call his mom and interrupt her, he knew she was busy at work. Instead he walked, walked for hours until his legs were aching. His mom was off work by the time he got home and he crawled into bed with her.

“Baby, what...what are you doing here?” Linda asked, turning on the lights. “What happened to your face?”

“I walked home,” he sobbed. “It’s awful there, mom. I ate meat and they found out I was dating Gerard and dad hit me.”

“He hit you?” Linda asked. “Oh god, let me get some ice for you.”

Frank cried in her bed as she got him ice.

“You hit my son?” She asked over the phone. “I don’t care! He is perfect the way he is! I do not care about the fucking custody agreement! You are never, ever seeing my son again!”

Linda hung up and laid in bed with her son, both of them crying themselves to sleep quietly.


	22. Chapter 22

Gerard heard about what happened with Frank and he was about to go over to see him when he got a package.

“What’d you order?” Mikey asked.

“I think it’s some comic books I ordered,” he said.

Gerard opened the package and gasped. His eyes and throat began to burn. Gerard hurried to the door for some fresh air, Mikey hurrying behind him.

“Oh my god, what is that?” Donald asked as he walked out.

Gerard coughed, crying into his sleeve.

“That was fucking tear gas,” Mikey choked out. “M-my friend’s dad was in the military, he showed it to us once.”

“Someone sent me fucking tear gas?” Gerard asked.

“Can we please stop swearing?” Donald asked as he wiped his eyes. “God, we’re gonna have to go stay the night at your grandparents’ to let everything air out. Come on, get in the car.”

“We have to pack stuff, though,” Mikey said.

“Do you wanna go back in there?” Donald asked.

Mikey looked at the smoke through the window before shaking his head. Gerard sighed, getting into the car. They drove up to North Brunswick and Donald called Donna to tell her the situation on the way.

“This sucks,” Mikey mumbled. “Do you think it was Lindsey?”

Gerard shushed him, looking out the window. They got to their grandparents house and Donald explained what happened while Gerard and Mikey went to the guest room where they had some clothes and things stored.

“Well, this sucks,” Mikey said. “I was gonna go out with Kristin tonight.”

“What were you gonna do?” Gerard asked.

“She was gonna take me to a party,” he said. 

“Your first party? Oh man, sorry, dude,” he said. “I hope that she’ll take you to another one.”

Donald came upstairs, smiling happily.

“Gerard, Lindsey is here to see you,” he said.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Mikey mumbled.

Gerard went down and frowned when he saw her standing on the porch.

“God, Lindsey, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“Tyler told me he saw you coming into town,” she said.

“You wouldn’t happen to know everything about that, would you?” He asked. 

“Looks like you got maced,” she said, pointing to his eyes which he knew were red and puffy. 

“Teargas,” he stated. “Lindsey, you released my sex tapes. I really can’t talk to you anymore.

“Come on, it’s not that big of a deal,” she said. 

“It is, I am with Frank now,” he said.

“For how long?” Lindsey asked. “Because we both know you. We both know that eventually you are going to get bored and want something new. Frank is like a mouse and vanilla sex just isn’t for you.”

“Lindsey--”

“Can I just show you something first?” She interrupted.

Gerard looked into her pleading eyes before sighing.

“Fine,” he said, peeking his head in the front door. “Dad, I’ll be back later.”

“Okay, have fun,” Donald said.

They got into the car together, going over to Lindsey’s house. Gerard followed her to her old treehouse.

“What did you want to show me?” Gerard asked.

Lindsey smiled and pulled back one of the curtains to show a carving on the wall they had made together in the wood. It was of them holding hands as kids, a rainbow over their heads.

“Remember when we were little and we thought that we were going to get married?” Lindsey asked. “We would always play house together, I would be the mommy and you would be the daddy. We would always have so much fun.”

“That was a long time ago, Lindsey,” he said. “We’re almost adults now, I think it’s time that we both really started acting like it.”

Lindsey frowned in confusion as she looked at him.

“The notes, Lindsey, they have to stop,” he said. “You’re wasting time of the police, you’re wasting my time. You’re hurting Frank’s feelings.”

“Well, maybe Frank can learn from the videos, stop being such a fucking pussy and learn how to spank some ass,” she said. 

Gerard scowled. “Frank is perfect just the way that he is. I don’t want him to change. I like the way that he is and I like the sex with him.”

“I heard a rumor that he was a virgin,” she said. “What’s it like sleeping with a virgin boy?”

“He isn’t a virgin and he wasn’t when we slept together,” he said.

“Remember the first time that we were together?” She asked. “It was like everything made sense for the first time. It felt so right being with you.”

“You’re making us out to be something that we never were,” he said.

“But you loved me, right?” She asked.

Gerard sighed. “Yes, Lindsey. Of course I loved you.”

“Then what’s the problem?” She asked.

“It’s just not the same anymore,” he said. “I really like Frank now. I like him a lot and I want to be with him for a long time.”

“Gerard, he doesn’t know you as well as I know you,” she said. “I practically know you better than you know yourself.”

“If you knew me then you knew that doing this wouldn’t be a way to win me back,” he said.

Lindsey sighed and looked down as she sniffled.

“I-I’m sorry,” she muttered. “I-It’s just...I’m on this new medicine and it’s been giving me these awful mood swings and it just makes me miss you even more. I am so sorry, you know that I’ve been trying my best with all my medications and I’ve been seeing my psychiatrist more often but it’s just hard, you know?”

Gerard sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“I know that it’s been hard on you with all of that,” he said. “How are you doing?”

“I’ve been making good progress but I guess I’ve had better days,” she said. “Th-there are less hallucinations now.”

“That’s good,” he said. “I’m proud of you, Linds.”

Lindsey sniffled, pulling her knees to her chest.

“My dad’s leaving us,” she whispered. “I-I just didn’t want to lose you, too.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that your parents were splitting up, I thought that they were doing better,” he said.

She sighed, running a hand down her face.

“My sister is moving away, she can’t stand being in this town anymore,” she said. “Not like it matters, she just spends all her time calling me a schizophrenic freak. It just sucks, you know? Because I’m not crazy, I’m just a little bit different. B-but I’m not crazy.”

“I know, Linds,” he said. “You are crazy smart, though.”

“W-Will you still be my friend even after everything that I did?” Lindsey asked nervously.

“You have to stop sending me things and you have to stop being rude to Frank,” Gerard stated. “We are really happy together. He makes me really happy, Lindsey.”

“But...I miss you,” she whimpered. “Please, move in with your grandparents. We can graduate together like we always wanted to. And we can get married and have babies. You like babies. We can have lots of babies together. You can’t have babies with Frank.”

“I don’t want to marry you, Lindsey,” he whispered gently. “You know I love you and you will always be one of my best friends but I don’t want to marry you. We’ve had our fair share of fun but that’s all it was. Just a bit of fun, it wasn’t anything too serious. It’s not like I’ll never remember it, you’ll always have a little bit of space in my heart. But my heart belongs to Frank now, it’s his.”

“You’re gonna marry him?” Lindsey asked.

“I don’t know,” Gerard said. “I like him a lot but it is still a little bit soon. He is really great, though.”

“Do you love him?” She asked.

“I don’t know, Lindsey, I just know that I really like him a lot,” he said.

Lindsey looked down sadly and reached for the little wooden box in the corner. She pulled out the box of polaroids that they kept. They ranged all the way back from when they were thirteen to a month ago. Most were innocent and normal. Others were taken in bed.

“Remember when we both went as superheroes for Halloween but we couldn’t make up our minds so we mashed them together?” She asked. 

“Yeah,” Gerard said with a chuckle. “I was Bat-Flash and you were Wonder-Man.”

“Wonder Woman and Spider-Man was a really weird combo,” Lindsey laughed.

“It surprisingly didn’t look as bad as I actually thought it would,” he said.

Lindsey smiled and held Gerard’s hand.

“You know, everyday could be this great if you just moved back in with your grandparents, you could be really happy in North Brunswick with me,” she said.

Gerard pulled his hand away. “You can’t keep doing this, Lindsey. If you do then I’m sorry but I just won’t be able to be your friend anymore. I won’t be able to keep talking to you. You know that I am with Frank now and I am happy and you need to just accept that and be happy for me. And if you can’t then I can’t talk to you anymore.”

“Why?” She asked.

“Because I’m with Frank and it isn’t fair to him to keep talking to someone who has feelings for me,” he said. “And because these letters are getting out of hand and the sex tapes could get me into so much trouble.”

“I’m sorry about the tear gas,” she said. “I just didn’t know how else to get you to come back to Brunswick other than making you evacuate your home.”

“That shit hurts,” he said. “And that was totally wrong. Last I heard from my dad on the phone with my mom was that they were going to hand this over to the police.”

“You can’t tell them it was me,” Lindsey begged. “Because of my schizophrenia they might lock me up in an insane asylum. I can’t be locked up in a loony bin.”

“Mental institutions are better nowadays,” he said. “Some of them are actually quite nice.”

“Yeah, for the peaceful ones who don’t send weapons in the mail,” she said. “The ones for the criminally insane are shit. It’s shit. This isn’t even because of my schizophrenia but they’ll probably try to blame it on that or something and I’m gonna go where all the really crazy fuckers are. Please, Gerard, you can’t tell anyone that this was me. I-I didn’t mean for this to go to the police. I-I guess it is pretty bad what I did looking back on it. You can’t tell them that it was me. I-I would get into so much trouble. Please, I promise I’ll stop sending stuff.”

“Okay, I won’t tell,” he agreed. “But this must stop, understand?”

Lindsey nodded, giving him a hug.

“And you’re taking all your medications?” Gerard asked.

“Yes, pinky promise with a cherry on top,” she said.

Gerard chuckled. “That’s not quite how it goes. I should get going, though.”

“No, stay the night,” she begged. “Come on, we can play video games and watch movies, a sleepover just like we used to have all the time before you moved away.”

“I really shouldn’t,” he said. “I need to call Frank. Oh, fuck, I-I forgot my phone at home. I’ll have to use Mikey’s, hopefully he brought his.”

“You can use mine,” Lindsey offered.

“No, I really don’t think I should give you Frank’s phone number,” he said.

“It’s not like I’m gonna call him or send texts to tell him to leave you alone,” she said.

“No, Lindsey, I have to go,” he said. “I’ll probably be leaving tomorrow morning so I won’t be able to see you again before I leave.”

“Oh, okay,” Lindsey mumbled, looking down.

“But maybe I’ll talk to you some other time,” he said. “We should probably take a little break though.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she agreed. “I-I’m not crazy.”

“I know you’re not,” he said with a small smile. “Stay safe, Lindsey.”

She smiled and gave him a hug. He walked back to his grandparents house, glad that finally everything was back to normal again.


	23. Chapter 23

Gerard laid with Frank in his bed.

“She really tear gassed you?” Frank asked.

“God, do you know how much that shit hurts?” he asked. “I was crying for at least a half an hour.”

“I can imagine,” Frank said. “God, that sucks. But it’s all clear now?”

“Yeah, everything is fine,” he said.

Gerard’s phone began to ring and he saw Jamia calling him.

“Hey, Jamia, what’s up?” He asked and Frank looked over at him curiously.

“Um, well, here’s the thing,” she said. “I have this information and the person needs to know but it can’t be me who tells him. It has to be you.”

“What are you talking about?” He asked.

“I was at a party yesterday,” she said. “I don’t even usually go to these kinds of parties, it was mostly underclassman but someone in that grade has a crush on Pete and invited him. He wanted to go because he heard there was free beer so he brought me. And, um, I-I saw Kristin--Mikey’s girlfriend--kissing another guy.”

“Are you serious?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, I have photos,” she said. “Not to be a creep but I just wanted proof. I’ll send them to you.”

“Thanks for telling me, and thanks for letting me tell him myself,” he said. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Jamia hung up and Gerard sighed.

“What? What’s wrong?” Frank asked.

“Apparently Kristin cheated on Mikey,” he mumbled. “God, how am I gonna tell him?”

“Do it gently,” Frank said. “Were there any notes when she released the sex tapes? Any letters?”

“No,” Gerard lied.

“You need to report her, get her in trouble for posting them,” he suggested.

“No because then I’ll get in trouble too,” he said. “And Lindsey is mentally ill, she says she’s been taking her meds but I have a feeling that she’s been slacking on it lately. She doesn’t mean to do what she’s doing and I talked with her. She’s going to stop and leave us alone.”

“Is she just blaming all this on her illness to avoid punishment?” Frank asked. “She sent you bloody razors and released your sex tape and fucking tear gassed you.”

“She’s sorry,” he said. “She won’t be bothering us anymore.”

Frank sighed, resting his head on his shoulder. Gerard looked at Frank’s bruised eye nervously. 

“I’m sorry about what happened with your dad,” he said. “And sorry I couldn’t come see you the day after.”

“It’s okay, you were gassed,” he said. 

Gerard rubbed his back, holding him close. 

“God, Mikey really likes her,” he said. “This is his first girlfriend. He is going to be so devastated. This is the best that I’ve seen him be.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” He asked. 

“No, no, I should tell him alone,” Gerard said. 

Frank nodded and Gerard sat up. He leaned down and gave Frank a soft kiss. 

“Alright, I guess I should go now because I have to tell Mikey about Kristin,” he said. “This is gonna suck. I don’t really know how to tell him.”

“Show him the pictures, that way there’s proof,” he said. “Call me if you need anything.”

Gerard nodded, giving him a kiss before he left. He drove back home through the snow and found Mikey in their room reading some comics. Gerard stood by the door, biting his lip. 

“Mikey?” He asked. 

Mikey hummed, looking up from the colorful pages. Gerard just stared for a moment, not quite knowing what to say. 

“How is it going with Kristin?” He finally asked. 

“Oh, it’s good,” Mikey said. “I like her a lot. Things are really great between us. She’s so geeky and funny.”

Gerard sighed and sat down beside his brother. 

“Mikey, Kristin was caught with another guy at the party,” he said softly. 

Mikey frowned, shaking his head. 

“Mikey, I have pictures,” he said. 

Gerard showed him the photos of Kristin making out with some guy at a party before they walked into a room together. Mikey frowned before turning back to his comic book. 

“Mikey?” He asked. 

Mikey didn’t say anything and Gerard frowned. 

“Come on, talk to me,” he said. “You can’t just ignore me. We should talk about this. I know it hurts.”

“What would you know?” Mikey asked, dropping his comic down. “You get everything you want, Gerard. Everything works out perfectly for you. You have people dropping to your feet, begging to just be able to talk to you. You have everything. I get this one thing and it gets ruined within only two weeks. You don’t know what it’s like. You get everything. Every single fucking thing. So just fuck off.”

Mikey turned back to his book and Gerard stood up. 

“Well, you have to talk to her,” he said. “You don’t have to talk to me but you have to at least talk to her.”

“Well, obviously I’m gonna talk to her, don’t be dumb,” Mikey muttered. 

Gerard bit his lip. He knew Mikey was upset so he didn’t say any type of retort back. Because Mikey was right, really. He did get everything. He’s never really had a battle with misfortune until he started getting the letters—and even that is over now. Mikey didn’t have it as easy, he was so much more shy and anxious. He didn’t have as many friends or girlfriends. He never had as much as Gerard had. 

Gerard walked downstairs and looked around the cabinets in the kitchen. He pulled out ingredients and began mixing them together in a big bowl. Mikey loves peanut butter cookies, especially when they’re homemade. Gerard thought maybe making some of these cookies for him would help to make him feel a little bit better. Even if it didn’t, Mikey would be able to eat his little heart out if he so pleased. 

“You’re baking?” Donald asked. 

“Peanut butter cookies,” Gerard said. “Mikey’s girlfriend cheated on him.”

“Oh, that’s awful,” he mumbled. “Have you talked to him?”

“He doesn’t wanna talk to anyone,” he said. “I thought that maybe some of his favorite cookies would make him feel at least a little bit better.”

“That’s sweet of you,” Donald said. 

He left Gerard alone to work when his phone rang. Gerard held it between his shoulder and cheek as he mixed. 

“Hey, Baby,” he said. 

“Hi,” Frank said with a small giggle. “I just wanted to see how it went with Mikey, assuming you told him already.”

“I did and it did not go well,” he said. “Not that I was really expecting it to go well. I’m making him cookies to help him feel better because he was pretty upset. He yelled at me.”

“My mom’s boss gave her some concert tickets to a concert in a nearby bar, she gave them to me so I could take you,” Frank said. “It’s tonight and I was thinking that maybe instead you could take Mikey, maybe it’ll help raise his spirits a little bit.”

“That’s really sweet, Frank, let me go ask,” he said. 

Gerard set the bowl down and hurried upstairs. 

“Hey, Mikes, you wanna go see a show with me tonight?” Gerard asked. 

“Yeah, no,” he scoffed. “I don’t want to go anywhere with you. I’m tired of you meddling in my life.”

Gerard sighed and walked back down the stairs. 

“He isn’t up for it, sorry,” Gerard said. 

“It’s okay,” Frank said. “Do you wanna go with me? We haven’t really gone on a real date, we just went to the dance together.”

“That sounds really fun,” Gerard agreed. “What time should I pick you up?”

“Well, the show starts at seven so maybe six so we can grab a bite to eat?” Frank suggested. 

“Yeah, that sounds really nice,” Gerard said. “I’ll pick you up.”

“But just somewhere cheap and fast,” he said. “A McDonald’s or something like that.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll see you then, baby.”

Gerard hung up and put the cookies into the oven. He let them bake and as soon as they were done he put them on a plate and brought them upstairs with a big glass of milk.

“I’ve got some freshly baked cookies,” Gerard sang lightly. “Nice and hot, just out of the oven.”

He set them onto the nightstand beside Mikey but his brother didn’t say anything in response.

“You wanna help me pick out an outfit to wear tonight?” He asked.

“I really don’t,” Mikey mumbled.

Gerard sighed. “It’s gonna be okay, Mikey, this is your first relationship. It probably wasn’t going to last anyways.”

“You know, you’re really not helping me at all so can you just leave me alone?” Mikey asked.

“Fine,” he said. 

He got some clothes before going to the bathroom to get ready.

“Where are you heading off to?” Donald asked.

“I’m going to see a show with Frank,” he said.

“Where at?” He asked.

“I don’t know, Frank hasn’t given me a location,” he said.

“Well, tell me when you find you,” Donald said. “Stay safe, no drinking, no smoking, try not to be back too late.”

“I might just stay over at Frank’s,” Gerard said as he put on his eyeliner. “I don’t completely know the plans just yet.”

“Keep me updated,” he said before walking into his bedroom.

Gerard got ready and hung out on his phone until he left to go pick Frank up. He was already waiting outside, jumping into the warm car quickly.

“God, I am so happy to see you,” Gerard muttered. “Mikey is being a total butt but it’s completely understandable, too, so I can’t really blame him for it.”

They got to the restaurant and sat in a booth in the corner. Gerard sighed at Frank’s black eye.

“Does it hurt?” He asked.

“Kind of when you touch it but it’s not too bad,” Frank said with a small shrug. “You should have seen my mom, I’ve never seen her so mad before. She was positively fuming. But I thankfully never have to see my Other Family ever again.”

“At least that’s a good thing,” he said.

Frank nodded, a soft smile on his face.

“Gerard, you make me really happy, you know that?” He asked.

“Yeah, I do,” Gerard said. “And I really like you a lot too. You make me so happy. I never really thought about myself settling down with someone but I’m actually really excited to now and I am really glad that it’s with you.”

Frank reached across the table to hold Gerard’s hand.

“So, who exactly are we going to see?” Gerard asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “But they’re just a small band.”

They were both buzzing with excitement when they got to the bar. It was a little busy but not too crowded as they waited.

“This is actually only my second show,” Frank admitted.

Gerard smiled. “I just wish that we had some sort of fake IDs and we could get some drinks.”

“I think it’s nicer being sober with you than drunk,” he said.

“You don’t need to be high just to talk to me anymore?” Gerard teased.

“No, no,” he denied with a chuckle. “I am so much more comfortable with you now. It’s so much nicer this way. I like being high and all but there’s just something so much better about being sober with you. You feel so much more, remember so much more. Everything is just so much more amazing.”

“Good, I’m glad that you don’t need to be high anymore,” he said. “I like you better sober. You’re cute when you’re a nervous mess but I really like having a conversation with the real you and it’s harder to do that when you’re not sober.”

“Gerard, I lo--”

Frank was interrupted when the band came onstage. Gerard smiled, holding his hand and bringing him up to the stage. They danced together happily for the rest of the night, holding each other close.


	24. Chapter 24

Frank couldn’t quite believe that it was already spring break, he felt like just yesterday he was off on Christmas break.

“Are you sure you really wanna go?” Linda asked. “We can just stay home, I’ll take some time off and we can do something fun together.”

“I really wanna go, mom,” Frank said, rolling his eyes.

“Are you sure?” She asked. “Florida is a far ways away from Belleville and you always got car sickness.”

“I haven’t gotten car sickness since I was a kid,” he said.

Frank knew that Linda was just scared to let her son go. He’s never gone on a trip before, Gerard decided to arrange this. The biggest trip he’s ever been on was when him and his mother went to the coast when he was ten for the day. But now it was spring break of senior year, he wanted to join his friends on this big trip down to Florida.

“You have enough money?” She asked.

“More than enough,” Frank said. “I’ve been saving up for months now.”

“And you have your phone and charger?” She asked and he nodded. “What about Mr. Waffles?”

“Mr. Waffles? My stuffed bear from when I was a kid? Mom, I don’t need to bring Mr. Waffles, I haven’t slept with him since I was nine,” Frank said with a small chuckle. “I’m gonna be fine, mom, I promise. I’m an adult now.”

“I know, I’m just gonna miss you,” she said, kissing his forehead. “No drinking, no smoking. I know that I can’t stop you and you probably are but at least just do it responsibly. No driving if you’re not sober. No getting into the car with anyone who’s not sober. Be careful, okay?”

“Yes, mom, I know,” he said.

“You’ll probably take turns driving on the way there but I don’t want you taking a turn to drive,” Linda said. “You only got your license two weeks ago and you’re just not ready to take on a drive like this just yet.”

“I wasn’t really planning on driving, Brendon doesn’t want me to drive his mom’s car anyways,” he said. “I’m gonna be okay, though, I’ll only be gone six days.”

Linda sighed. “I know, you’re an adult now. It’s time for you to go out and do things on your own. I’m just going to miss you a lot and I am going to worry.”

There was a honk outside and Frank smiled.

“They’re here,” he said.

“Okay, be careful and I love you,” she said.

“I love you too, mom,” he said. “I’ll call you when we get to Florida and then again as often as I can.”

Linda smiled and kissed his cheek. Frank grabbed his duffel bag and hurried downstairs. Brendon was borrowing his mom’s minivan and the slid open. He tossed his bag into the trunk before going into the backseat where Gerard was. It was the six of them, Gerard, Frank, Jamia, Pete, Brendon and Ryan.

“Oh god, this is going to be so much fun,” Ryan said. “I’m so glad that we’re doing this.”

“Too bad Debby and Josh couldn’t come,” Jamia said.

They both wanted to join their friends on the trip but Debby was eight months pregnant now and couldn’t be traveling away from home.

“I don’t think a pregnant woman and Florida during spring break would be a good combination,” Gerard said. “Far too much booze.”

“Yeah, Josh told me he was gonna take her on a picnic and to the pool and things like that,” Frank said. “So at least they’ll get to have some fun during the break.”

“How long is it gonna take to get down to the motel?” Pete asked.

“About fourteen more hours so get comfortable,” Brendon said.

Frank sighed, snuggling close to Gerard. It was definitely getting warmer outside but the two still cuddled up underneath a blanket.

“Frankie, I love you,” Gerard whispered, making Frank giggle.

“I love you too,” he said.

Frank could remember the first time that they told each other that.

_Frank smiled, holding Gerard’s hand. It was surprisingly warm out and the two were sleeping under the stars in Gerard’s backyard. It was quiet and peaceful, they were so happy to just be here wrapped up in each other’s arms._

_“Happy three month anniversary, Baby,” Gerard said._

_Frank smiled, kissing Gerard’s cheek._

_“I love you,” he whispered._

_Gerard looked over in slight surprise, making Frank worry that he hadn’t done the right thing by saying that. Gerard was quiet as he stared at Frank._

_“I love you too,” he said finally._

_“You do?” Frank asked. “Y-you don’t have to just say that because I said it.”_

_“No, it’s okay, I was just a little bit surprised,” he said. “I’m really glad that you said it. And I do mean it, I really do love you too. I was just surprised, I never really thought that I would ever be here with someone that I love so much. It’s surprising and I really, really like it. I honestly never thought that I would be so in love with someone.”_

Frank smiled at Gerard, holding his hand.

“What?” Gerard asked.

“Nothing, just thinking about the first time that you told me that,” he said. “It was really nice to hear.”

“I really like to say it,” he said. “And you know what tomorrow is?”

“Our five month anniversary,” Frank said with a proud smile.

Gerard smiled, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. It’s been four months since they last received a letter, leaving them alone and peaceful. Gerard was just thankful that Lindsey was back on her medication and seeming to be feeling a lot better now.

“I’m gonna take you out somewhere nice,” he said.

“No, don’t do that,” Frank denied. “You know I don’t like nice places. They’re expensive and i always feel so out of place.”

“Are you sure?” He asked.

“Yeah, to me it sounds even better to just have a peaceful night in at the motel with you,” he said.

“Well too bad you’re not gonna get that because we are gonna be partying our asses off,” Ryan said. “It’s spring break! Have your movie marathons some other time!”

Frank chuckled, kissing Gerard’s cheek.

“Maybe when we get back home we can go out to eat somewhere,” Frank said. “I’d rather not eat out in Florida, I feel like everything is going to be so much more expensive.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right on that,” Gerard agreed.

“It’s gonna be kind of late when we get down there,” Brendon said. “We’ll stop for fast food on the way and then tomorrow we can go to the store for some food, get like bagels and things to make sandwiches and that kind of stuff.”

“Oh, my mom and I bought some stuff before we left, too,” Jamia said. “Chips and pretzels and pops, things like that.”

“Ooh, remind me to text your mom later to thank her,” Frank said. “Also, what is this playing right now? Are we having a sadfest?”

“Ryan is playing his Sad Boy Playlist,” Brendon said. “He’s controlling the music.”

“Oh my god, change it, please,” Pete begged. “I do not want to listen to Let Her Go and Yesterday on our way to an epic party vacation in Florida.”

“Ryan, did your cat die or something?” Jamia asked.

“Hey, sad songs are the best in car rides,” Ryan said. “Especially while it’s raining. It’s like you’re in a music video.”

“Um, change it or else I’m taking the aux,” Pete said.

Ryan rolled his eyes but still changed it to a more upbeat playlist.

“You guys just don’t understand,” he said. “Sad music is the best music. No one can beat my Sad Boy Playlist.”

“I-Is that the actual name of the playlist?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, it is,” Brendon said.

“I’ve been here for five months and honestly I’m still learning so many new things about everyone,” Gerard said. “Did you know that Josh still sleeps with a night light? I didn’t wanna say anything when I stayed over at his place but, like, why?”

“Oh, when he was younger he started having these...sleep paralysis sort of things,” Frank said. “He usually wakes up in the middle of the night and has these hallucinations and having some light in the room makes it a bit less creepy.”

“Oh, that makes so much more sense,” he said.

“Why were you sleeping over there?” Jamia asked. “He doesn’t usually have people sleep over recently since Debby’s moved in, he doesn’t wanna interrupt her sleeping since she’s pregnant and all.”

“Oh, I was helping him build some of the furniture for the nursery and it got late so he said I could just crash on the couch,” Gerard explained. “It’s pretty cool how him and Debby actually live together in their own place now, they’re only eighteen.”

“You know, it is really awesome that your eighteenth birthday is gonna happen while we’re down here in Florida,” Pete said. “You’re gonna get to celebrate it in style.”

“My friend Patrick’s birthday is at the end of the month and he always has this huge party,” Gerard said. “You guys should all come with me.”

“He wouldn’t mind?” Jamia asked.

“God, he doesn’t care, he’s wasted within the first half hour,” Gerard said. “Seriously, half of North Brunswick comes, people that we don’t even really know.”

“Any excuse to party is an excuse to me,” Ryan said. “We would love to go.”

Frank looked out the window at the cars they were passing and at the city in the background that seemed far and tiny. He was a little bit nervous and for a moment the anxiousness started to get to him, anxiousness that he hasn’t felt in a long time. He was a lot better now, was so much more confident. But his stomach was twisting uneasily as he thought about leaving New Jersey and leaving his mom and going to a place that he’s never been to before. Oh god, what if this was a mistake? Maybe they should just turn around, it’s not too late to be dropped off.

“Hey, you okay?” Gerard whispered.

“I-I don’t think I can do this,” he whimpered. “I-I can’t go all the way to Florida. I should go home. I need to go home, this was a mistake.”

“We can go home if you want,” Gerard said. “But is that really what you want to do?”

“I-I don’t know, I’m just really nervous,” he said. “I’ve never left home before. I think I’m homesick.”

“Baby, you’ve only been away from home for forty-five minutes,” Gerard said with a small chuckle.

“I know,” he said. “I-I’m just...Oh god, I’m just nervous.”

“Hey, Frankie, it’s gonna be okay,” Jamia said, turning in her seat to give him a small smile. “We’re all here for you and if you don’t want to go then that’s okay, we can drop you back off at home.”

Frank was really considering that option, considering choosing the safer route. But he knew he would probably regret not going when he saw his friends posting all kinds of cool pictures and videos. He was nervous now but he knew that once he got there and started having fun the nerves would be gone. He would just have to wait until the nerves went away.

“No, I’ll be fine, I’m just a little bit nervous,” he said.

“Well guess who brought some pot?” Brendon cheered.

“You’re really bringing drugs across state lines?” Ryan asked. 

“It’s been so long since I’ve smoked,” Frank said. “I’ve been saving for this trip so I haven’t bought anything in forever.”

Brendon reached into the console and tossed back a baggie of weed and some rolling papers. Frank sighed, carefully rolling a joint on the back of his phone. He didn’t wanna spill the weed all over the backseat of his friend’s mom’s minivan. When he finally got it rolled he began to relax as he smoked and they all laughed as they passed it around, singing along to the music.


	25. Chapter 25

Frank couldn’t believe it was already his five month anniversary. Maybe they weren’t having the most romantic night but they promised to have one once they got back home to Belleville. Instead, they were on the beach partying with their friends and a bunch of other random people. They were all pretty drunk by then, dancing and laughing.

“Baby, come here,” Pete said. “Come swim with me.”

Everyone was in suits on the beach but Jamia didn’t want to take off her bathing suit cover. Frank knew why, she always got self conscious of her body.

“No, I-I don’t really want to,” Jamia said. “What if it’s cold?”

Gerard instead followed him over to the water to swim with him.

“Mia, we’re in Florida,” Frank said. “You don’t have to be worried about your body, you’re beautiful. Go swimming, have fun.”

Jamia looked down, shaking her head.

“What do you do when you and Pete...you know...have sex and stuff?” He asked.

“We haven’t,” she said. “I-I get too self conscious, I don’t want him to see me.”

“You’ve been together for four months,” he said. “Jamia, he really likes you. He likes you for exactly who you are. He thinks that you are so, so beautiful. And you are beautiful, you shouldn’t have to worry about what anyone thinks of you.”

Jamia sighed and nodded. Frank watched her go over to the shoreline and wave Pete over out of the water. She said something before he smiled and nodded, giving her a kiss. She took off her cover and joined him in the water. Frank smiled as a girl sat down beside him.

“I love your tattoos,” she said. “You’re pretty cute.”

“I have a boyfriend,” Frank said.

“Oh, you’re gay?” she asked.

“No,” he denied.

The girl looked confused but walked off anyways when she realized Frank wasn’t available. Frank still hasn’t completely figured out his sexuality but he finally decided that that was okay. He liked who he liked and didn’t feel the need to put a label on himself.

“Is Ryan really about to let some stranger do body shots off him?” Brendon asked. “God, he is so drunk I need to keep a leash on him. Ryan! Babe! What are you doing?!”

Ryan giggled and waved his arm.

“We’re doing body shots!” He cheered.

“God, whatever,” Brendon muttered. “He is so weird. I am not surprised, really. I should probably stop him but...he’s having fun. Am I a bad boyfriend for letting strangers do body shots off my boyfriend?”

Frank laughed. “I mean, can anyone control Ryan? At least he hasn’t hijacked the stereo to play his Sad Boy Playlist.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t done that,” he said. “I should go get him.”

Brendon walked off and took Ryan’s hand. Ryan was pouting like a little puppy but followed Brendon away. Frank was left alone on the bench, a beer in his hand. He watched Gerard splash water at Jamia and they both laughed.

“Hey, Frank, right?” someone asked.

Frank looked back and saw a boy who looked familiar but he couldn’t quite put a name to his face.

“Oh, I’m Tyler, Gerard’s friend,” the guy said. “We, um, we met at that one party a while ago when he brought you up to North Brunswick.”

“Oh, yeah, hey,” he said. “That’s so weird running into you down here like this in Florida.”

“It’s not that weird, Lindsey and Gerard have been planning this trip since freshman year, right down to the motel they’d stay at,” Tyler said with a small chuckle. “And then they sort of stopped talking but both still went on the trip, just with different groups of people.”

“Oh, so you’re staying at the same motel as us?” Frank said.

“Lindsey is so much more chill now, don’t worry about her being around,” he said. “I heard about everything that happened. It’s crazy, she mentioned the tear gas and the sex tapes but nothing about any of the other letters. You should know that she was on her meds at the time but the dosage was off. She is doing a lot better now, I can promise you that. She won’t bother you guys while we’re all down here.”

“Well, at least that’s good,” Frank said. “Today’s our anniversary and I really don’t want to be bothered by her today.”

“She’s doing a lot better, she’s even on tinder now,” he said. “Which I know may not seem like a big deal or anything but it’s a sign that she’s moving on from Gerard, she was pretty obsessed with him for a while.”

Frank nodded, taking a sip of his drink.

“Well, I should go then, let you have some fun,” he said. “I just thought that I would say hi.”

Frank smiled, walking off to the water.

“Hey, Gerard,” he called.

Gerard smiled and came over.

“Did you know that Lindsey was here?” Frank asked.

“No, I haven’t really been talking to her,” he said. “But I guess that I’m not really surprised, we were both pretty excited for this trip that we had both been planning.”

“She’s staying at the same motel and everything,” he said. “Don’t you think that’s a little bit weird?”

“No,” he said with a small chuckle, taking a sip of his boyfriend’s drink. “Look, it’s okay. Come on, why don’t we go find somewhere a little bit more private to talk?”

Gerard took Frank’s hand and pulled him over behind some trees. They sat down on the sand at the coast, holding each other close.

“Listen, it is going to be okay,” he said. “We hardly talk anymore, she won’t bother us at all.”

They watched the sunset together and Gerard smiled.

“Happy anniversary, Baby, I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” Frank replied.

Gerard leaned over, kissing Frank softly. Frank pushed him back, deepening the kiss.

“You wanna do it on the beach?” Gerard asked with a giggle.

“What if someone sees us?” Frank asked.

“We’re completely blocked off, no one’s going to see,” he said.

“Are we just drunk?” He asked.

“Maybe,” Gerard said.

Frank downed the rest of his beer before kissing Gerard again. They ground together slowly, low moans leaving their lips. Frank was just thankful that he wasn’t so nervous anymore when it came to sex now that they’ve done it more. He was also thankful that he was able to last a lot longer.

“Ew, were you two about to have beach sex?” Pete asked.

Frank pulled away, groaning as he looked at his friend. Jamia stood beside him, blushing as she looked away.

“Uh, we were before you interrupted us,” he said.

“You two are clearly drunk and not thinking this through,” he said. “Beach sex is the worst, you don’t even have a towel laid down. Gerard, you are going to have sand all up your wazoo.”

“He might be right,” Gerard agreed. “Maybe this should wait for later. We don’t have any condoms with us anyways.”

“What are you two doing over here then?” Frank asked.

“We just wanted a quiet place to talk is all,” Pete said.

“Yeah, you two were not gonna do a whole lot of talking,” Frank teased. “Whatever, come on, Gerard, they’re probably gonna start the bonfire soon.”

Gerard smiled, nodding his head. They walked away and Frank winked at Jamia on the way, making her blush. They had already gotten the bonfire started as it got dark, a huge pit of fire burning on the beach. People were just getting drunker and drunker and the two of them helped themselves to more drinks. 

“Vodka shots,” Gerard said, handing him one.

Frank gulped it down quickly and winced at the taste. But after three more shots it didn’t seem as bad and the two began to dance together, mostly grinding and having fun. They were wasted and high and having so much fun together. But that was interrupted when sirens sounded nearby in the parking lot.

“Fuck, cops,” Gerard said. “We have to get out of here.”

They found their friends and hurried back to the motel, which was thankfully within walking distance.

“Shit, it’s a good thing we didn’t get caught,” Brendon said as they hung out in his and Ryan’s room. “Because Ryan here is so drunk I don’t think he knows his name.”

“You know, I don’t think that Kylie Jenner should be so rich,” Ryan said. “Y-you know who...who should be rich? Austin Powers.”

“Aus--what?” Pete asked. “Was he not rich?”

“Who are we talking about?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, I think you need to lay down with a bottle of water,” Brendon said. 

He was the least drunk of the group, usually that’s just because he was taking care of his boyfriend, his boyfriend who loved to get drunk.

“Whiskey?” Ryan asked. “Oh my god, there’s this drinking game I came up with. O-okay so, like, you drink...you take a shot every time...you...hey, why did we leave the party?”

“The cops showed up, Babe,” Brendon said.

“We should totally roleplay that,” Ryan said, pulling on Brendon’s shirt. “You can be the cop and I can be the bad, bad inmate.”

“Yeah, you need to get some rest,” he said.

Brendon tucked his boyfriend into the bed with a bottle of water.

“So, did you two do it on the beach?” Gerard asked. “After telling us not to?”

“No,” Pete said with a chuckle. “We just wanted to watch the sunset together.”

“It was so pretty,” Jamia said. “And the way that it reflected on the water was even better.”

Jamia smiled over at Pete, kissing his cheek.

“I was completely taken aback,” he said. “It was so beautiful. I never wanted to look away. The most beautiful girl in the world. And yeah, the sunset was pretty cool too.”

Jamia giggled and blushed.

“You two are really cute together,” Frank said.

“You know who’s cute together?” Ryan asked, sitting up in bed. “Gwen and Trent from Total Drama Island.”

“Oh my god, just lay down and go to sleep, Babe,” Brendon said.

“Ooh, and Gwen Stefani and Gwen Stefani,” Ryan added.

“Gwen Stefani and her clone?” Pete asked.

“Who’s Gwen Stefani?” he asked. “Is it...is she secretly Lady Gaga? I mean, have they ever been in the same room together? I think not!”

“Lay down,” Brendon ordered.

“Bossy, I like it,” Ryan said. “Come join me in bed and boss me around some more.”

“You’re probably too drunk to even get it up,” he said with a small laugh. “Just go to bed.”

“I can….I can get it up, wanna see?” Ryan asked.

He pushed his blanket aside and started to pull down his shorts when Brendon quickly hurried over to stop him.

“Alright then, time for you to stay in bed and go to sleep,” he said.

“We should probably go to our own rooms anyways,” Gerard said.

“Oh, I’ve gotta call my mom first,” Jamia said. “She wanted to talk to you Frank.”

They left the room and were soon alone together.

“I’m nervous, I don’t actually need to call my mom,” she admitted. “Last night I roomed with Ryan, this is my first time sleeping over with Pete. And there’s only one bed.”

“Jamia, it’s gonna be okay,” he said but she still looked really nervous. “You can room with me tonight if you want but you’re gonna have to have a sleepover with him eventually.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I’ll room with him tomorrow, I’m just nervous.”

Frank explained the situation with Gerard and he happily went to go room with Pete for the night, telling him some story about how Jamia accidentally fell asleep in Frank’s bed while they talked on the phone with her mom.

“Why are you so nervous?” Frank asked.

“I-I don’t know, I just am,” Jamia said. “Let’s just go to sleep.”

She changed her clothes in the bathroom and he changed after. They crawled into bed, turning off the lights.

“Thanks, Frankie, I just don’t think I’m ready yet for sleeping in the same bed as him,” she said. “But we’ve gotten a lot closer and stuff. I think I’ll be ready tomorrow.”

Frank smiled, kissing her cheek before falling asleep under the warm blankets.


	26. Chapter 26

Gerard stepped out of the room with Frank. They bumped right into someone and Gerard looked at Lindsey. He hasn’t seen her in person since she tear gassed him. 

“Oh, hey,” Gerard said a little awkwardly. 

“Hi,” Lindsey said. “Guess we’re neighbors.”

She gestured to the room next to theirs, indicating that that’s where she was staying. 

“Oh, great,” Frank mumbled. 

He wanted to leave to go find food but didn’t want to leave the two of them alone. 

“So, Uh, how are you two doing?” She asked. 

“We’re fine,” Gerard said. “How are you?”

“I’m doing better now,” she said. “I should go, we were gonna grab some food.”

Gerard smiled and nodded. The two boys walked into Pete and Jamia’s room. 

“We have come for bagels,” Gerard announced. 

Frank giggled, kissing his boyfriend’s cheek. Pete got out the bagels and cream cheese. 

“Where’s Jamia?” Frank asked. 

“She went to the lobby to get us some of the free coffee,” Pete said. 

“How was sleeping over with Jamia for the first time?” He asked. 

“Really good,” Pete replies with a small smile. “It was so nice cuddling with her all night.”

Frank smiled as the door opened and Jamia carefully held two styrofoam cups of coffee. 

“Hey, good morning,” she said. “It’s gonna rain, what are we gonna do?”

“We can just hang out here for today,” Gerard said. 

Frank made himself a bagel before stepping outside the room to call his mom. It was chilly out as he wore a hoodie, dark clouds looking overhead. 

“Hey, mom,” he said when the line picked up. 

“Good morning, baby,” Linda said. 

“Did I wake you up?” He asked while he ate. 

“No, why do you sound weird?” She asked. 

“Eating a bagel,” Frank said. 

“Ugh, why didn’t you just call me after instead of talking with food in your mouth?” She asked. “Anyways, how are things down there?”

“Good,” He said. “It’s rainy today so we’re just hang out at the motel or something. Ryan brought cards and things like that and Jamia brought snacks.”

“That sounds like fun,” she said. “I miss you.”

“You too,” he said. “You working?”

“I’m leaving in just a few minutes but I don’t work the night shifts tonight,” she said. 

“Okay, I should let you go then,” he said. “I love you, mom.”

“Love you too, sweetheart,” Linda said. “Tell Mia I said hi.”

Frank hung up and shoved the rest of the bagel in his mouth. Someone walked up to Frank in that moment. 

“Hey, Frank, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for my actions,” Lindsey apologized. “They were bitchy and uncalled for.”

Frank tried to say something but his mouth was full and it came out as nothing more than gibberish. He choked before coughing and spitting the bagel out onto the ground. 

“Um, thanks,” he said, wiping his mouth as he coughed. 

“I guess I just wasn’t ready to let go of Gerard yet but I am now,” she said. “I hope that maybe we can be friends.”

Frank nodded, clearing his throat. Man he needed some water after choking on that food. 

“Yeah, Maybe,” He said. 

Frank gave her a polite smile with an excuse before going back into the motel room. 

“God I’m choking,” he grumbled. 

Jamia handed him a bottle of water and he downed half of it. He sat on the bed, sighing unhappily. 

“Something wrong?” Gerard asked. 

“No, everything’s fine,” Frank said and quickly changed the subject. “Hey, Where’s Brendon and Ryan?”

“My guess is they wake up and fuck so they’ll be done once they shower,” Pete said. 

Almost as if on cue, five minutes later they came in with wet hair. They were all giggling at them as though Brendon and Ryan had just performed the walk of shame. 

“It looks pretty nasty out,” Brendon said. 

Jamia nodded. “The guy in the motel lobby said there’s supposed to be a pretty bad storm coming. We were all just gonna hang out in here.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ryan said as he grabbed a bagel. 

“I am so glad we’re seniors and almost out, we won’t have to deal with freshman anymore,” Jamia said. 

“Mm, freshman aren’t too bad,” Gerard said with a shrug. “They stay in their place, they know they’re on the bottom of the totem pole. Sophomores are the worst, they’re not freshman anymore so they get so cocky.”

“One Time there was this sophomore girl,” Frank said. “And im not the tallest, you know. She pushed passed me and was rude and I turned around and she was like ‘I’m sorry, I thought you were a freshman’ and then when she learned I was a senior she tried to hit on me.”

“Yeah, I agree, sophomores are way more annoying,” Pete said. 

“Next year we’re gonna be the freshman again at college,” Gerard said. 

“What are you gonna do, Gerard?” Jamia asked. 

“I was just recently accepted into Pratt Institute, I’m gonna study art and hopefully become a comic book artist,” he said. 

“Wow, that’s amazing,” she said. “New York? Frank, did you know he’s gonna be moving to New York?”

“Yeah, I did,” Frank said. “It’s about an hour and a half from Rutgers University so we won’t be able to see each other everyday but we’ll be able to make it work, definitely.”

Ryan’s lip began to tremble and Brendon sighed, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. 

“What?” Gerard asked. 

“I’m moving to California for college,” Brendon explained. 

“I-it’s Okay,” Ryan whimpered. “You’re gonna go to a good school and get a good job. I-I’m just gonna miss you.”

“I’m gonna come back,” Brendon said. “It’s not like I’m gonna stay over in California forever.”

Ryan nodded, sniffling quietly. 

“No, I know,” he said. “It’s okay. J-just don’t talk to any other boys while you’re there.”

“We’ve been dating for five years, babe, there is no other boy I want than you,” he said. 

Frank but his lip but didn’t say anything. Brendon was originally from Vegas, he never seemed much like a Jersey boy to Frank. He would probably fit in more in California. Frank wouldn’t be surprised if he stayed there. 

“Is everyone else staying here?” Gerard asked. 

“I’m going to Rutgers with Frank,” Jamia said. “Pete is going to start working in his family business, Ryan’s going to community college, Josh is working and Debby is just going to take care of their son. So I guess it’s just you and Brendon leaving.”

“Where’s Lindsey going?” Frank asked. 

God, he really hoped it wasn’t New York.

“She actually is just going into the workforce,” Gerard said. “Things aren’t great at her home. Her dad left them and with her mental illnesses it’s sometimes hard for her to live alone. At least, that was the decision she had made when I last talked to her, it’s been a few months.”

frank nodded, thankful that they weren’t going to be close together. He still didn’t fully trust Lindsey. Maybe she was moving on now but what if she became obsessed with him again?

“It’s cool that you two are going to the same colleges,” Gerard said. 

“Yeah, well, they’re the only places we could get scholarships,” Jamia said with a small chuckle. “We go where the money lets us.”

Gerard chuckled. 

“And it’s close to home,” Frank added. “They let me live at home so that helps to save some fees.”

“I’m gonna live in the dorms,” Jamia said. “Maybe I’ll join a sorority. My sister was in one, she said it was one of the best times of her life.”

“You would be cute in a sorority,” Pete said, kissing her cheek. 

He gave her a soft kiss and Jamia pulled away with a soft blush. 

“So, What do you think of the rain?” She asked. “Kinda sucks it decided to storm while we were down here.”

“Yeah but it’s only supposed to be this one day so it shouldn’t be too bad,” Ryan said. “Maybe having a day where we’re all sober will be good, our bodies will be able to catch up.”

“Well, maybe a little not sober,” Brendon said, pulling out a little baggie of weed. 

Ryan grinned, taking the baggie to start rolling. 

“God, this is the best trip ever,” Pete said. 

He sat close to Jamia, holding onto her hand. 

“So, any other plans for the rest of the week?” Brendon asked. 

“Not really,” Gerard said. “Just going to parties and getting drunk. Unless you guys wanna do some sight seeing or something.”

“God no, I think it’s way better to just party,” Pete said. 

Gerard chuckled, laying back on the bed to stare up at the white ceiling. 

“Maybe we could all get drunk and have an orgy,” Ryan suggested. 

“Yeah,” Brendon scoffed. “Last time we had a threesome you just whimpered and clung to my side the whole time, you would never have an orgy.”

“He was creepy,” Ryan defended himself. “I just didn’t like the guy you picked. And he had that huge beard, he looked like a lumberjack. I’m not much of a beard person.”

“You didn’t seem to mind his beard when he was eating you out,” Brendon said. 

“You two have threesomes?” Gerard asked curiously. 

“Occasionally we find a hookup on Grindr,” Brendon said. “Because Ryan here is a little twink who loves being spit roasted.”

Ryan blushed but still smiled and nodded. 

“I think an orgy with all of us would just be too weird and awkward,” Frank said. 

“That’s why there’s booze involved,” Ryan said. 

“I veto,” Frank said. 

“Veto,” Jamia added. 

“Veto,” Pete voted. 

“Veto,” Gerard stated. “Guess that’s it then, we are not going to be having an orgy.”

“Has anyone here ever even been in an orgy?” Pete asked. 

Gerard was the only one to raise his hand. Frank looked at him in shock, a slight pang of jealousy inside him. 

“Really? With who?” Jamia asked. 

“Some friends back in Brunswick,” Gerard said with a shrug. “It was only, like, two or three times.”

“How many sexual partners have you had?” She asked. 

“Yeah, Uh, I don’t think we should really get into that,” Gerard said, glancing at Frank. “It doesn’t matter, I’m with Frank now and he is all that I could ever want.”

“So it has to be a lot,” she said. “More than you can count on your fingers?”

More than he could count on his fingers and toes. Of course, he didn’t say that out loud. Frank knew he shouldn’t but he just got an off feeling inside of himself. Gerard has slept with so many people and he’s only got two. He didn’t know what to feel. Jealousy? Inadequacy? Resentful? Zealous? 

“Damn, I’ve only had one sexual partner,” Jamia said. “How many threesomes have you two had?”

She gestured to Ryan and Brendon, who looked at each other. 

“I don’t know, maybe six,” Brendon said. 

“Maybe seven by the end of this trip,” Ryan said. “There was this cute boy at the beach who was doing body shots off me and maybe I can get him to have one with us.”

“Is everyone just gonna be getting drunk and having sex on this vacation?” Gerard asked. 

Jamia and Pete looked at each other a little awkwardly before looking away. The two of them still haven’t done anything together and they were both too awkward and nervous to bring it up. 

“We need a special party for your birthday,” Ryan said to Gerard. “We’ll find a club we can get into and then we’ll just spend all night dancing.”

“I’ve kind of already got some plans so his night is already booked,” Frank said. 

“What do you have planned?” Gerard asked. 

“That’s a surprise,” he said. 

Gerard raises his eyebrows and was about to say something when Ryan handed him a joint. 

“Thanks,” He said. 

“Now, I call for strip poker,” Ryan said. 

They all began to veto him again as he pulled out his cards.


	27. Chapter 27

Frank was maybe not the nicest kid in school but he definitely wasn’t a bad person. He didn’t bully or anything, he just kept to himself smoking pot, getting into the occasional arguments and holding grudges. He wasn’t like Gerard, who practically shat rainbows and flowers and loved everyone. Frank tried to be a good person most of the time. He’s only been suspended once because of a fight and that should say something. 

But when it came to Lindsey, he just felt his blood boil. He just got so angry at all the nasty things she said to him and the way she made Gerard actually fearful. Not only that, but she wasted resources of the police and Alicia had to go in for questioning when she didn’t even do anything. Her parents were so mad at her that they took away her phone for a month. 

“Come on, it’ll be fine,” Gerard said. “It’s my birthday.”

He stepped out of the bathroom and looked at frank, who sat on the bed. 

“Can you blame me for not wanting to spend the day with Lindsey?” Frank asked. “She called me poor. And I may be poor but she has no right to say that.”

“She wasn’t on the right meds, she’s better now,” Gerard said. “She can be a little bit bitchy but she really isn’t all that bad.”

“I’m not happy with this,” he stated. 

“I know,” Gerard said. “But I really wanna also celebrate my birthday with Tyler and Patrick, it would be rude to leave Lindsey out.”

“Only bad things can happen from being too polite, it’s okay to be a little rude sometimes,” he said. 

“It’s just dinner, only for an hour or two and then we’ll come back to the motel and you’ll have me all to yourself,” he said. 

Frank sighed, giving him a soft kiss. 

“Okay but I’m not sitting next to her,” Frank said. “I don’t care if she apologized, I still don’t trust her.”

Gerard nodded, pulling him up to his feet. 

“Come on, it’s gonna be fun,” he said. 

They walked out and met up with everyone else, driving two cars to the restaurant. It wasn’t a fancy place, just a sports bar. They got a table in the corner and Frank was only slightly annoyed when Lindsey took the seat next to Gerard, making him sit across from him instead because Ryan was already sitting on the other side. 

“You’re finally eighteen,” Tyler said. 

Gerard smiled proudly, nodding his head. 

“You coming to the party at the beach tonight?” Lindsey asked. 

“No, I’m spending the night with Frank,” Gerard said. 

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” she said. 

“Trust me, we’re gonna be having a lot more fun,” Frank said, a slight spite in spite in his voice. 

Jamia, who was sitting next to Frank, looked over at Frank with raised eyebrows. 

“Frank says he’s got a surprise for me,” Gerard said. “We can always hang out some other time.”

“But we’re leaving tomorrow,” she said. 

Gerard shrugged, opening the menu. Frank couldn’t help but smirk at the look of disappointment on her face. 

“Maybe after graduation,” she said. 

“Yeah, I mean, we’ll see each other at grad parties and stuff,” Gerard said. 

Gerard was totally blowing Lindsey off, everyone could tell. Frank was pretty glad about that.

“Oh, Frank, my mom was wondering if you wanted to go on vacation with us this summer?” Jamia asked. “Since it’s the end of my senior year we were gonna go to California.”

“My mom barely let me come to Florida, I don’t think she’s gonna let me go all the way across the country,” Frank said and Jamia frowned. “I can ask but she’ll probably say no.”

“It’s okay, I get it,” Jamia said. “Linda is pretty protective.”

“I have a proposition,” Ryan declared. “We can’t lose each other after high school, we are going to be lifelong friends. So, I have decided that once a year we will all come back here and just spend time together and party like how we were during our senior year, even when we’re all old and have kids and are married and shit.”

We all agreed and Brendon smiled.

“It’s kinda funny that you bring that up,” Brendon said. “The whole marriage thing.”

Brendon sighed and set a ring box down on the table.

“Stop playing,” Ryan said, his eyes watering.

“It’s not an engagement ring, I just want to clarify that,” Brendon said. “But it is a promise ring. A promise to each other that we will get married and be together forever.”

Ryan picked up the box in his slim fingers, opening it to find the simple silver band.

“Oh, Bren,” Ryan sighed. “I love it, it’s beautiful. Thank you so much.”

Ryan put the ring on his finger with his shaky hands.

“Oh, this is so cute,” Jamia said. “You two are so perfect together, I know that you’re gonna spend the rest of your lives together.”

“Maybe that could be us one day,” Pete said.

Jamia nodded, looking down at the menu.

“You wanna share something?” she asked. “I’m not too hungry.”

Pete nodded and they chose what they wanted. The waitress came to take their orders before walking off again. Gerard reached over and smiled as he held Frank’s hand across the table. Frank smiled and gently rubbed the back of his hand with his thumb. Lindsey eyed their hands but didn’t say anything.

“You definitely need to come back to Brunswick more often, Gerard,” Tyler said.

“Yeah, we really miss you up there,” Patrick said. “Everyone misses you. Seriously, it’s so sad and quiet at school now that you’re not there anymore.”

“At least call more,” Tyler said.

“Yeah, I will,” Gerard promised. “When’s the prom? Maybe I can crash it.”

“It’s May 4th,” Lindsey said.

“Oh, that’s a week after our prom,” Gerard said. “Yeah, I’m definitely gonna crash the prom.”

“You don’t even have to crash it,” Lindsey said. “You can just come as my date and get in normally with a ticket.”

Frank frowned at that option.

“Or you can come as my date,” Tyler said. “We can be Dude Dates together.”

“I would love to be your date, Tyler,” gerard accepted.

Frank didn’t mind gerard going with Tyler, he just really didn’t want him going with Lindsey because he knew Tyler just wanted to go as friends while Lindsey most likely wanted to go as something more.

“We’re gonna have a pre-game party at my house,” Patrick said.

“We should do that,” Ryan said. “Oh my god, we need to pre-game.”

“Gerard and I actually had plans,” Jamia said. “So we wouldn’t be able to attend.”

“Oh? What are you two doing?” Brendon asked.

“We were gonna get ready for prom together,” Gerard said. “I’m not bad with hair so I was gonna do her hair for prom and then Pete and Frank were gonna pick us up and we were all gonna go to prom together.”

“Well, me and Brendon can pre-game together then,” Ryan said.

Brendon nodded, holding his hand. They talked and ate happily, even getting a free birthday dessert for Gerard. But Frank and Gerard were both anxious to get back to the motel so they didn’t spend very long out at dinner.

Frank smiled as he pulled Gerard into the room. He pressed him against the wall and kissed him roughly. He kissed down Gerard’s neck, trying to leave as many marks as he could. 

“I’ve got a bit of a surprise for you,” Gerard said. 

Frank took a step back and watched Gerard strip down to nothing but a little pair of lace panties. His mouth went dry, stomach twisting. 

“Shit,” he whispered. 

“And your surprise is?” Gerard asked. 

Frank smirked and took off his belt. Gerard expected him to toss it aside but was shocked when he instead folded it in half and snapped it. 

“Frankie, I know you’re not into this,” Gerard mumbled. “You don’t have to do it for me.”

“I’ve been doing research on it,” he said. “N-not like just watching hardcore porn or anything. But like reading blogs and stuff. And I’m interested. I want to try it.”

Gerard nodded, kissing him softly. He pulled off Frank’s shirt, running his hand down his tattooed chest. He made sure the curtains were shut and dimmed the lights before going over to the bed with his head down and ass up. Frank was a little nervous as he stepped forward, taking a deep breath before spanking Gerard with the belt. He was surprised by the small moan Gerard let out and even more surprised by how it made him feel.

Frank bit his lip and hit him again, a little bit harder this time. Gerard gasped, his hands clutching onto the blankets. Frank did it twice quickly, feeling the knot forming in the pit of his stomach. He somehow just couldn’t get enough. He whipped him with the belt over and over again until Gerard was panting and begging to be fucked. Frank dropped the belt, grabbing the bottle of lube and a condom.

“I-I don’t need stretching,” Gerard said. “Please just fuck me, I need you so bad.”

Frank pulled down Gerard’s panties, putting on the condom and spreading lube over himself, a rather generous amount. He pushed in slowly, holding onto his boyfriend’s hips. Gerard was already close, he pushed back onto Frank with a desperate moan. Frank created a fast rhythm between them.

“Oh god, right there,” Gerard whimpered when Frank hit his prostate. “H-holy shit, I’m so close.”

It only took a few more thrusts before Gerard was coming. Even though Frank was a lot better in bed now, he still didn’t usually last much longer than Gerard, if he could last longer. So he was a little surprised when Gerard was coming so quickly. He pulled out, trying to catch his breath as he pushed back his sweaty hair. He looked at Gerard’s pale ass that was red and starting to bruise.

“D-don’t stop,” Gerard whimpered.

“Are you sure?” Frank asked.

Gerard nodded and Frank slammed back in. He reached around and stroked him until he was hard again. They both knew that they weren’t going to last long after this. Gerard was moaning desperately, practically shaking and sobbing. Frank could feel the bubbling pleasure inside himself building up. His movements became more erratic but he was determined to hold off until Gerard came a second time. Frank spanked Gerard, hearing him cry out in pleasure in response. 

The bed was creaking beneath them, the stiff mattress shifting slightly. Frank reached down, tangling a hand into Gerard’s hair to pull lightly. His other hand reached around to stroke Gerard off quickly. Soon he was coming in his hand, shaking and crying. Frank bit his lip and finally stopped holding on, allowing his body to tip over the edge. He worked them both through their orgasms before pulling out, throwing the condom away. 

He pulled on his boxers and took off his jeans, which had previously been stuck around his thighs. Frank went to the bathroom and grabbed one of the washcloths, wetting it down before going to clean up Gerard.

“Do you want some underwear?” He asked.

“No,” Gerard said. “B-but can you get me the lotion that’s in the front pocket of my bag?” 

Frank found the lotion and gently spread it over Gerard’s ass, hearing him sigh in relief.

“Are you okay?” Frank asked. “I-I wasn’t too rough, was I?”

“No, you were so perfect,” Gerard said. “Seriously, that was the best sex I’ve ever had.”

Frank smiled but he guessed that Gerard was just saying that. He turned off the lights, crawling into bed with his boyfriend.

“Happy birthday,” Frank whispered.

Gerard smiled, giving him a kiss before he snuggled against his chest and quickly fell asleep.


	28. Chapter 28

Gerard was so tired after the trip that he slept for almost a whole day. It was a real drag having to get himself out of bed and go back to school on Monday morning. He smiled when he saw Frank that morning, giving him a soft kiss.

“God, I am so tired,” Frank mumbled. 

“Me too,” Gerard agreed. “You wanna ditch with me?”

Frank bit his lip as he considered it.

“I shouldn’t,” he said. “I should go to class.”

Gerard nodded, noticing Mikey down the hall.

“Alright, I’ll see you there,” Gerard said. “I just need to do something first.”

He gave Frank a kiss before walking over to Mikey. He didn’t approach him at first, just watched the way Mikey stared at Kristin from across the hall. Although they ended their relationship months ago, he knew Mikey still wasn’t really over her. He was still pretty heartbroken.

“Hey,” Gerard said. “You wanna ditch class with me?”

“I have chess club after school,” Mikey stated.

“Well, do you wanna sit with me and my friends at lunch?” He offered.

“No,” Mikey denied.

Gerard sighed. “Mikey, you don’t have to still be upset over her.”

“I’m not,” he said. “Just leave me alone already, you’re always getting on my nerves. Just because you’re my big brother doesn’t mean that I need you.”

Mikey walked away, leaving Gerard alone.

“Ouch, what was that about?” Jamia asked.

“He’s still upset about Kristin and is kind of upset with me because I’m the one that set them up in the first place,” he said. “Which is kind of unfair but whatever, he’ll get over it eventually. It’s his first breakup, he’s pretty upset about it.”

“Alright, well, call me if you need anything,” she said. 

Gerard went to class and sat down next to Frank.

“Everything okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, everything is fine,” Gerard said. “Just checking in on Mikey, he’s taking his first break up really hard.”

“They weren’t together for very long, he’ll probably get over her soon,” Frank said.

“Did you get over your first relationship easily?” He asked.

“Yeah, it wasn’t bad,” he said. “We weren’t that serious.”

Frank pulled out his notebook when class started.

“Hey, you wanna come over to my place after school?” Frank asked. “My mom’s gonna be out at work so we’ll have the whole place to ourselves.”

“I like the sounds of that,” Gerard said. “But I don’t know, I think that I should stay home to hang out with Mikey a bit to maybe try and make him feel a little bit better.”

As soon as the day ended Gerard went to the art class. He helped the teacher out with organizing cabinets to buy time before he drove Mikey home.

“You wanna grab some food on the way home?” He asked.

“If you’re paying,” Mikey said.

They stopped to get some fast food before heading home.

“There are plenty of girls out there like Kristin who’s funny and smart and nerdy but who also aren’t cheaters,” Gerard said.

“Whatever, I don’t care,” Mikey said. “I told you, I’m fine. You can just stop bothering me already.”

“Let me at least fix up your hair,” Gerard said.

His hair had grown out and looked a little weird, his brown roots showing.

Mikey sighed. “Fine, I guess.”

They ate their food before going upstairs to the bathroom. Gerard cut his hair and shaved the sides before bleaching it. Mikey sighed when he finished, looking in the mirror.

“Thanks, I guess,” he said.

“Yeah, anytime,” he said. “Seriously, Mikey, I’m alway gonna be here for you in case you want to talk. You’re my little brother, I love you.”

“Whatever, just stop trying to fucking set me up with people,” Mikey said.

He walked out and Gerard sighed, sitting on the edge of the tub. He really wanted to help his little brother, he just wasn’t quite sure how to do that. 

“You know, you can’t just hate me because I’m the one who set you up with Kristin,” he said. “Yeah, Mikey, it does fucking suck that she cheated on you but the two of you hadn’t even been dating for that long, I don’t think that you should still be so hung up on her.”

“Whatever, Gerard, just stay out of my life,” Mikey said. “I am so tired of you. I hate you.”

Gerard scowled, turning and walking out of the room. He stormed downstairs, finding his dad in the living room.

“I cannot stand him,” Gerard stated. “He is being such a bitch.”

“Watch your language,” he said, setting down the newspaper. “What’s going on?”

“He is being so rude,” he said. “Witchy.”

“Is this about that girl he dated?” Donald asked.

“Yes and he is still just being so witchy to me,” Gerard said. “All because I set them up. I’m moving out.”

“Moving out where?” Donald asked.

“The basement,” he said. “I’m moving my bedroom down to the basement. I am not gonna be sharing a bedroom with him if he’s gonna keep being such an ass.”

Donald sighed. “Fine, I guess. You can take the room in the basement. But I don’t want this feud going on between you two forever, you two have to make up.”

“I’m the one trying to make things up between us but he’s the one who’s being such a brat about everything,” he said. “Seriously, he is so annoying. Can I invite Frank over?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” he said. 

Gerard invited Frank over, who came on his skateboard about twenty minutes later.

“Okay, can you help me move some furniture?” He asked.

“What furniture?” Frank asked.

“I am moving out of my room and taking the empty room in the basement,” Gerard stated. “I refuse to share a room with Mikey.”

“Seriously? He’s that upset?” He asked.

“He is being so annoying,” he said. 

They carried the mattress down, not bothering with the actual bed frame. They brought down his dresser before deciding that they wanted a break.

“It’s kinda cool that you’re down here, actually,” Frank said. “That means we won’t have to sleep in a bed with your brother in the same room and we can kiss as much as we want.”

Gerard smiled, giggling as he pulled Frank down onto the mattress with him.

“So, I was actually kinda thinking about something,” Frank said. “It’s okay if you wanna say no, I understand.”

“What’s up?” He asked.

“I was thinking that maybe I could try being a bottom for once,” he whispered.

“Yeah, we could do that,” Gerard said. “Are you sure?”

Frank nodded. “Th-that’s actually kind of the reason that I wanted you to come over to my place but I just didn’t want to ask you during class where someone might hear us.”

Gerard nodded, getting up to lock the door and turn on some music. He sat back beside Frank, kissing him softly. He pushed him back against the bed and moved in between his legs. Frank was nervous and hesitant, it reminded Gerard of when they first met.

“I-Is it gonna hurt?” Frank asked.

“It will hurt at first, I won’t lie,” he said. “Do you wanna stop?”

Frank shook his head and they went back to kissing and grinding. They undressed and Gerard reached into his pillow case and grabbed the bottle of lube and a condom.

“Tell me if you wanna stop, okay, baby?” Gerard asked.

Frank nodded and Gerard kissed down his chest. He wrapped his lips around his erection, eliciting a soft moan from Frank. Gerard pulled off and slowly pushed a lubed up finger in. Frank whimpered as Gerard soon added a second. He moved them in and out slowly, kissing his inner thighs.

He sat up when he finished stretching him, rolling on a condom and spreading lube over himself. Gerard gave him a soft kiss before he pushed in slowly. Frank whimpered, tensing up.

“Do you wanna stop?” Gerard asked and Frank shook his head. “Then you need to relax, okay?”

Frank nodded, taking a deep breath. Gerard bottomed out and Frank gasped, his fingernails digging into Gerard’s skin. He was trying to relax but god, it was hurting so much more than he thought it would. He didn’t want to stop, though. He wanted the pleasure that he knew was going to come.

Gerard slowly began rocking his hips, biting his lip. It’s been a little while since he’s topped, he forgot how good it felt. Frank was whimpering and Gerard peppered his face with soft kisses until he heard Frank cry out.

“Right there, baby?” Gerard asked.

Frank nodded and Gerard hit his prostate again. The way that the pain switched over to pleasure was mind blowing for Frank. He moaned, his head falling back on the pillow. Gerard sat up and grabbed Frank’s legs, putting them over his shoulders. He slammed in a little harder, holding Frank’s hips.

“O-oh fuck,” Frank gasped. “D-do that again, please.”

Gerard pulled out before slamming back in. Frank whined, his back arching. He fucked his boyfriend roughly, loving the sounds of his desperate moans.

“I’m gonna come,” Frank whimpered.

Gerard groaned. “Hold on for me, Baby.”

Frank bit his lip and nodded, his face and chest turning red. Gerard kissed him roughly, slamming his hips. The boiling pleasure was knotting up inside himself. He wrapped a hand around Frank and stroked him quickly. Frank was coming soon after and Gerard followed quickly after that. He pulled out, panting heavily. Frank managed to catch his breath, watching Gerard take off the condom and throw it away.

“That...oh god, th-that was amazing,” Frank said. “Holy shit.”

“I’ll get you some tylenol,” he said. “This was your first time and although you were properly stretched, you’re probably gonna be hurting.”

Gerard put on his clothes and went upstairs to get a cup of water and some medicine. Frank had his boxers on when Gerard came back down and he took the medicine.

“Are you feeling okay?” Gerard asked.

“It is stinging a bit now that the high is coming down,” he said.

“Would you do it again, though?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, definitely,” Frank said. “Maybe we could switch more often.”

Gerard smiled and nodded, cuddling up beside Frank after turning off the music.

“You’re really gonna stay down here in the basement?” Frank asked.

“I will just as long as Mikey stops being an ass,” he said. “Seriously, he is being so irritated.”

“He’ll get over this soon and then you two will go back to normal,” frank said. “It’s gonna be okay, he won’t be mad at you forever.”

“I’m tired of trying to make things right with him, I didn’t even do anything wrong, it’s not like I told Kristin to cheat on him or something,” he said. “I have made him cookies and bought him food and comics and offered to take him to the movies and to parties and to play laser tag. And I’m just tired of it at this point, I shouldn’t have to work so hard to make things right because of something that wasn’t even my fault. I’m done trying, he can come to me when he wants to make things right between us again.”

“If that’s what you want to do,” Frank said.

“What do you think I should do?” Gerard asked.

“I don’t know, I don’t really know what it’s like to have siblings,” he said. “Other than two asshole step brothers.”

“Mikey just needs to take a chill pill and he’ll come to me when he’s ready,” Gerard said. “If I keep bothering him then he’s just going to keep getting annoyed.”

Frank nodded, giving him a soft kiss.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” Gerard said with a smile.

Frank pushed back his sweaty hair, resting his head on Gerard’s chest. He ended up falling asleep and although Gerard had to pee, he didn’t move. He just laid there and ran his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair, thankful to have someone so great in his life.


	29. Chapter 29

Frank had begun working extra shifts to save up money because he knew he would be busy and stressed once college started in the fall. He came home with sticky hands, a common result of working at an ice cream shop. He was tired, he worked late.

“Hey, mom,” he mumbled when he walked in the door.

“Hi, sweetheart, how was work?” She asked. “I just got home a bit ago.”

“It was fine, just tiring,” Frank said. “I’m just gonna go shower and then go to bed.”

“Oh, I’m sorry but I just got out of the shower, there’s no hot water left,” Linda said.

Frank sighed. “It’s alright, I love you, mom.”

“I love you too, baby,” she said.

Frank took a cold shower before exiting the bathroom in some warm pajamas. He gave his mom a kiss goodnight on the cheek before heading towards his room.

“Don’t you want some dinner?” She asked.

“Jamia got us some burgers while on break,” Frank said. 

He laid in bed and was just starting to fall asleep when he heard voices in the other room.

“Frankie? Can you come out here?” Linda called.

“No, I’m sleeping,” Frank grumbled.

“Please?” She asked.

Frank groaned and stood up, going out to the kitchen. Gerard was there with a big bouquet of lilies and an even bigger smile on his face.

“Will you go to prom with me?” He asked.

“Of course I’ll go with you,” Frank said.

“Didn’t you see your room?” Gerard asked.

“No, I didn’t even turn the lights on, I just went straight in to bed,” he said.

Frank walked in and turned the light now. His room was painted with beautiful lilies all over his walls. It was just like his room at the old house.

“What...what is this?” He asked.

“I painted it, your mom let me in earlier and showed me a picture of your old room,” Gerard said. “You always talk about how much you loved that room and that house.”

“You really did all this for me?” Frank asked.

“Of course,” he said.

“D-do you wanna stay the night?” Frank asked.

Gerard nodded and they laid down in bed. Frank fell asleep quickly, snuggled up in Gerard’s arms.

He woke up to an empty bed and the smell of cinnamon from the kitchen. He got up found Gerard and his mom eating breakfast together.

“Gerard made us breakfast,” Linda said. “He is so sweet. They are cinnamon pancakes and they are absolutely amazing.”

Frank yawned and got a plate, sitting with them with a mug of coffee.

“So, do you two have any plans today?” Linda asked.

“Not that I know of,” Frank said. “Do we have any plans, Gerard?”

“I didn’t make any but if you want we can go out later for lunch and then maybe hang out at the skatepark,” Gerard said.

Frank’s phone started buzzing and he answered it.

“Hi--”

“Oh my god!” Jamia shrieked and Frank jumped, pulling the phone away from his ear as the other two in the room turned to look at him. “Debby went into labor yesterday!”

“Holy shit, Debby had her baby?” Frank asked and Gerard gasped.

“Yeah, she sent me a picture and he is so cute,” Jamia said. “They want to know if we want to visit.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Frank said. 

“I’ll pick you up in an hour,” Jamia said. 

“Gerard’s here too, I’m sure he’s going to want to come,” he said.

He hung up and smiled as he ate.

“Oh, I’m happy for them,” Linda said. “It’s maybe irresponsible of them and as a parent I do not approve but it was an accident and they are making the best of the situation and acting very responsibly. At least I don’t have to worry about you getting anyone pregnant knowing that you’re with Gerard.”

“You wanna come to the hospital with me to see them?” Frank asked.

“Yeah, of course I’d love to go,” he said. “I guess this means she’s not going to the prom then, we were actually planning on having her come over to get ready with me and Jamia before the dance. I was gonna do her hair too.”

“Yeah, well, I guess she’s out of it then,” he said. “She’ll be here in an hour.”

“I-I don’t wanna be rude or anything but I didn’t know we were going out,” Gerard said. “Is it alright if I take a shower here?”

“Oh, yeah, of course that’s fine, hon,” Linda said. “The towels are in the closet behind the door.”

Gerard smiled thankfully and went to the bathroom.

“I am so glad that you met him,” Linda said. “You’re different now, you’re a lot happier. And, may I add, I’ve noticed that you’ve been smoking a lot less.”

Frank shrugged. “Gerard makes me really happy and I guess that maybe I just don’t really feel the need to smoke as much as I used to.”

Linda smiled. “That’s really good. I am so happy for you. And usually I would say that you’re too young to have really found the one but I think that Gerard might really be the one for you. He could be the one that you really marry. And I kind of hope that you do. Oh, I can’t wait until you get married and have kids and I get to have grandkids.”

Frank smiled, finishing up his food.

“Mom, how come you never had any other kids?” Frank asked. “Why did you stop at me?”

“Well, because I already had more than I could ever want with the sweetest little angel in the world,” she said.

“But how come you never remarried? Or at least had a boyfriend?” Frank asked.

Linda sighed. “You don’t remember but I did have a boyfriend. I knew from a pretty young age that you were gay. Or at least into boys.”

“You did? How?” He asked. “I didn’t even know until last year.”

“You used to always say that you were going to marry the prince from Cinderella,” she said. “Anyways, I did have a boyfriend. For a while I thought that he was the one, we were gonna get married and maybe have some kids together so you could have siblings to play with. You always wanted siblings. And he didn’t like that you were gay--or bi, whatever you decide you are--and he was watching you while I was at work one day. You were four, maybe. And when I came home you were in bed and your skin was pink and hot to the touch. Apparently you wanted to watch Cinderella, he wouldn’t put it on because he didn’t think a boy should watch princess movies. And then you went on about how much you loved the prince. And he...he put you in a boiling tub and held you underwater until you passed out.”

Linda was sobbing and Frank reached over to hold her hand.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” He asked.

“Because you forgot about it and I was worried that telling you would bring back the memories and it would be too painful,” she said as she sniffled. “And, well, I never dated again after that. I was so guilty that you were hurt and I didn’t want you hurt again.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Frank mumbled. “What happened to him?”

“Oh, I pressed charges like nobody's business,” she said. “The jury was really harsh on him for nearly murdering a four year old boy. He’s still in prison.”

“I’m so sorry, mom,” Frank whispered, his eyes watering.

“What are you apologizing for?” She asked.

“Because I was the reason you never dated again and had more kids,” he said.

“I couldn’t have a more perfect life,” Linda said. “As long as I have you then it’ll be okay. I knew that I had the sweetest child and I was gonna have you in my life forever, I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.”

Frank kissed her cheek as the shower stopped. They wiped off their tears and Gerard stepped out.

“Alright, Jamia should be here soon,” Frank said, grabbing the dishes.

“Oh, sweetheart, let me wash those,” Linda said.

“No, it’s okay, mom,” Frank said. “You should rest before you go to work.”

He washed the dishes and finished just before Jamia texted to let them know she was there.

“Alright, mom, I love you, I’ll see you later,” Frank said.

They went downstairs and Jamia drove them to the hospital. They went to their hospital room and Josh was practically glowing with happiness.

“Meet little Ryan,” Debby said. “Little Ryan Joshua Dun.”

“Oh my god, he is so tiny,” Jamia cooed. “He’s adorable.”

“Can I hold him?” Gerard asked. “I love babies so much.”

Debby nodded, handing him the little bundled up baby.

“Hey,” Jamia said, pulling Frank to the side. “Are you okay? You were kinda quiet on the ride over.”

“Yeah, my mom was just telling me something before you picked me up,” he said. “Apparently my dad isn’t the only shitty man in my mom’s life who has hurt me.”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

He sighed and shook his head.

“I will tell you about it later,” he said. 

Frank went back over with the others, putting a happy smile on his face.

“Oh my god, Frankie, look at how cute he is!” Gerard cheered. “Oh, I can’t wait to have kids of my own.”

Frank smiled, wrapping an arm around Gerard’s waist.

“Maybe we’ll have some of our own one day,” Frank said. 

Frank could imagine the two of them together one day, married and living in a nice home after they adopted some cute babies. Maybe they would have a dog. Frank would love to get a dog one day. But he had a feeling that they were going to be together for the rest of their lives.

“Yeah, maybe we will,” Gerard agreed. “I think that I would really like that.”

“You know, it’s a good thing you’re having Ryan so young,” Jamia said. “Your body is going to bounce back so much easier.”

“Where’s Pete?” Josh asked. “You didn’t bring him?”

“Oh, he was busy,” Jamia said. “He’s with his brother today. Some soccer thing. I wanna hold now.”

Jamia took the baby next, smiling down at him. 

“You must be so happy,” Frank said. 

“This is the best day of my life,” Josh said. “Life was already so great, how could it get any better than this? Debby is the real hero, you should have seen her, she was a total champ. I swear, she was so amazing. I am going to be waiting on her hand and foot for years. She gets endless foot massages after this.”

Debby smiled, reaching over to hold his hand.

“How are you feeling?” Gerard asked.

“Sore but I’m not too bad,” she said. “Oh my god, you should see me, though. They have me in these granny panties that go over my hips and they gave me this pad that goes from my lower back bone all the way around to the front to above my pubic hair.”

“And yet you’re still attractive even in that,” Josh said, making Debby blush and giggle.

“The worst part was that I was in labor for so long,” she said. “It hurt so bad, I just couldn’t wait until I was allowed to push him out and just get it over with.”

Josh smiled, kissing her hand.

“But he’s finally here and he’s so precious and I love him so much,” Debby said. “I feel so blessed that we have him here with us now.”

“We couldn’t be any more blessed than anyone else in the world,” Josh said. “We have our own little happy family now and nothing could ever get better than this.”

They spent the day in the hospital, talking and taking turns holding Ryan.


	30. Chapter 30

Gerard was just coming back after being at Josh’s. Debby was tired and needed sleep but Josh was at work so Gerard volunteered to go watch the baby while Debby slept for a few hours. 

“Oh, come on,” he muttered. 

He found the word ‘leave’ spray painted in red across his lawn. An envelope was tucked under a rock near the steps. He went to open the envelope but jumped back in pain. Blood began dropping down his hand and he got into the car, driving straight to the police station. 

“I need to see Detective Orzechowski,” he stated. 

“She is out at the moment but she should be back any minute,” the lady behind the desk said. 

“Can I at least get a band aid?” He asked. 

“I’ll find you one,” she said. 

Gerard sat down, waiting for a few minutes before he saw the detective walk through the door. 

“Oh, hello, Gerard,” she said. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, I need to talk urgently,” he said. 

She led him back to his desk and he sat down, handing her the letter. 

“Be careful, it cut me,” Gerard said. 

The lady from behind the desk came over and gave Gerard a band-aid. Detective Orzechowski used a letter opener to slit the envelope open. 

“Someone stuck razors underneath the flap,” she said, pulling out the letter. 

“What’s it say?” He asked. 

She read it before sighing, handing it to him. 

This is your last warning, go back to Brunswick or else you will be hurt. 

“They also spray painted my yard,” Gerard said. “And I know who’s doing it.”

“You did? And you didn’t say anything?” She asked. 

“She’s a friend and she was off her meds and she promised she would stop,” he said. “But this is the last straw, I’m going to prom in a few days, I don’t want her near there. I don’t want her to ruin my night.”

“Who is this?” She asked. 

“Lindsey Ballato,” He said, giving her the address of her house and other information. 

“And how do you know it’s her?” She asked. 

“Because I confronted her and she just sort of confessed,” he said. “But I didn’t want her to get into trouble.”

Detective Orzechowski sighed. “Alright, well, I’m going to bring her in.”

Gerard nodded, going back to the lobby to call Frank. 

“Hey, I got another letter,” he said. “And I turned it into Orzechowski.”

“I thought she was done with all of that bullshit,” Frank said. 

“Yeah, me too,” he said. “And there were razors in the envelope, cut my finger.”

“That’s not right,” he said. “God, What a fucking bitch.”

“I know, but she’s getting arrested now so she’s hopefully not gonna bother us,” he said. “We can have a perfect time together at the prom.”

“Good, and I hope that she goes to prison for harassing you,” Frank said. 

Gerard bit his lip. “I don’t know if I want her to go to prison—“

“You can’t keep defending her, what she did was shit,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if she’s your friend, what she did wasn’t right.”

“God, I know,” he said. “But, like, we grew up together and have been best friends for so long, I never thought that she would do anything like this.”

“People can surprise you,” he said. “But you finally turned her in so this is all finally over. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Gerard said. “What if she does end up in some type of institution though because of her mental illnesses? What if they treat her like shit there?”

“She treated you like shit,” frank said. “Seriously. You didn’t deserve any of the torment she put you through. She released your fucking sex tapes, you were a minor in those videos.”

Gerard sighed, running a hand down his face. 

“I’ve never seen her like this, though,” he said. “It all just came out of nowhere. She was always so sweet, I never thought she would do anything like this before.”

“But she did and you can’t just excuse her because she’s your friend,” he said. 

“I know, I know,” he said. 

They talked for a bit until the doors opened and Gerard saw Lindsey come in with her hands handcuffed in front of her. Her hands were covered in red spray paint. 

“Gerard, I didn’t do it, tell them I didn’t do it,” she said. 

“You’ve literally been caught red handed,” he said. 

“You see it too?” She said, eyes widening as she looked at her red hands. “I thought I was just hallucinating it!”

They took her back and Gerard left. He went home and inside the house. 

“What is that in the yard?” Donald asked. 

“That was Lindsey,” he said. “She’s with the police now because she is the one who has been sending me all those stupid fucking letters.”

“Stop cursing,” Donald said. 

Gerard sighed and went downstairs to his room. He still hasn’t talked to Mikey and he was fine with it. It was almost prom, almost graduation. Only a little bit longer and he would be moving out to New York. Maybe the little bit of distance would help get Mikey passed all this. 

The door opened and Frank walked in with some styrofoam food containers in his hands. 

“I brought Chinese food to make you feel better,” Frank said. “It’s all vegetarian, though, so you’re gonna have to suffer.”

Gerard smiled, sitting up. 

“You didn’t have to buy me food,” he said. “I know you’ve been saving up money.”

Frank shrugged. “I won’t lie, I had a coupon. Besides, now that I’m not buying pot I have so much more money. I didn’t realize how much of my paycheck went towards weed until I stopped buying.”

Frank went over and gave Gerard a soft kiss. 

“You did the right thing by turning her in,” Frank said. “She can’t just get away with harassing you just because she’s upset that you don’t want to sleep with her anymore.”

“If it was the right thing then why do I still feel like so much crap?” He asked. “She had spray paint on her hands and she just pretended she thought she was hallucinating it.”

“Maybe she’s just gonna try to use her schizophrenia to get out of it,” Frank said. “Maybe she’ll say the voices told her to do it.”

“She doesn’t want to end up in a mental institution,” he said. “I don’t think she would stoop that low.”

“Does that mean there’s gonna be a court case and we’re all gonna have to go to trial and shit?” Frank asked. “Good thing you gave me that suit because I am probably gonna end up getting some pretty good use out of it.”

“Thank Mikey, It’s his suit,” he said. 

“Are you two still not talking?” Frank asked and he shook his head. “You know, if I had a brother I wouldn’t wanna ruin my relationship with him.”

“I’m not ruining it, I’m letting him fix it because the more I try to fix it then the more I actually do ruin it,” he said. 

Frank pulled chopsticks out of the bag and they began eating straight from the containers. 

“So, are you wearing a dress to the prom?” Frank said. 

“Yeah, Jamia helped me pick one out yesterday and I already got you the tie to match,” Gerard said, pulling the tie out of his nightstand. “It’s a beautiful pale yellow color, I thought it would look beautiful with your green eyes.”

“You matched your dress to the color of my eyes?” Frank asked. 

“Yeah, of course,” Gerard said. “Your eyes have these little golden specks in them and I think they’re so beautiful, I can’t keep my eyes off them.”

“You have pretty eyes, too,” he said. “Beautiful and hazel.”

Gerard smiled and gave him a kiss. 

“And you’re gonna look beautiful in your prom dress,” Frank said. “I am so excited. Are you sure I can’t pay for half the tickets at least?”

“Baby, it’s okay,” Gerard said. “They were expensive and my parents offered to pay for them so let’s just let them pay for the tickets.”

Frank sighed, nodding his head. 

“Well, Everything is sorted out for the dance, right?” He asked. “You’re going to Jamia’s and then Pete’s gonna pick me up and we’re gonna go pick the two of you up.”

“And maybe we can go somewhere else after,” Gerard said. “My parents will be home so we can’t come back here.”

“My mom will be back by that time, too,” Frank said. “Maybe we can get a motel. I know it’s not very special or romantic for prom night but we already had special and romantic.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Gerard agreed. “Unless you wanna do it in the backseat of Pete’s car.”

Frank snorted. “Oh god no. Although, Jamia’s parents are away for the weekend.”

“I feel like it would be weird with ya just having sex in different rooms in the same house,” Gerard said. 

“Jamia and Pete actually still haven’t had sex,” he said. 

“Really? Still?” He asked. 

Frank shrugged. “I think Jamia let him touch her boob over her shirt one time but that’s the farthest they’ve gone. Pete is hoping that prom night is the night where she finally lets him do her.”

“What’s holding Jamia back so much?” Gerard asked. 

“I don’t know, I think she’s just nervous,” he said. 

“You were nervous af one point too,” Gerard said. “Maybe you could talk to her.”

Frank seemed to pale a bit before his cheeks turned red. “Yeah, I don’t really think that having that kind of discussion with her is really the best decision. She shouldn’t have that conversation with me, maybe you could talk to her instead when you go over to her house to get ready for the prom.”

“Yeah, I could,” he said. “I just thought that since you two were best friends and all that you might be able to have a more real connection and better conversation.”

“Trust me, we really shouldn’t be talking about our sex life with each other,” he said. “Listen, it’s just a sort of complicated relationship, we argue a lot and it would probably just be really awkward if we talked about our sex lives with our partners.”

“Yeah, I guess I get that,” Gerard said. “Oh well, I’m not going to push it or anything. I’ll just bring it up to her and have a nice, light-hearted conversation with her. It’s understandable that she’s nervous about losing her virginity.”

“Oh, she’s not a virgin,” Frank said. 

“Oh, then what is she so nervous about?” Gerard asked. 

“I don’t know, maybe it’s because she’s only had one partner before and is just nervous about doing it with Pete,” he said. “She’s really self conscious of her body and I think that’s the biggest part.”

“She’s gorgeous, got curves for days,” he said. “I could give her some tips for that. Maybe we can go out and get some lingerie before the prom, something that she feels sexy and confident in.”

“Ooh, Maybe you could get something for yourself,” Frank said. “God, seeing you in some black lace would be amazing.”

“Well, I already have something for you that I’ll be wearing underneath my prom dress,” Gerard said. “Too bad it’s a surprise but I know for a fact that you are going to absolutely love it.”

Frank blushed, a big grin on his face. 

“God, I cannot not wait for prom,” he said. “I’m so glad I get to go with you, I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Baby,” Gerard said. 

“We are gonna have the best night ever at this dance,” he said. 

Gerard nodded and the two spent the rest of the night laughing in each other’s arms.


	31. Chapter 31

Frank couldn’t be more excited for prom than he already was. He spent the whole day getting ready, showering and even getting his hair trimmed the night before. 

“Hey, man, I need a huge favor,” Brendon said over the phone. “I wrote a poem for Ryan in a notebook but I lent the notebook to Jamia and it’s in her locker and I need it.”

“Okay, I can get it out for you, I know the combination,” frank said.

“I owe you so much,” Brendon said. “I’ll pick you up soon.”

Frank laid his suit out on the bed, making sure everything was perfect before he went downstairs to the lobby of the apartment. He got into Brendon’s car when he pulled up and they went to the school. The doors were locked, obviously, but the windows in one of the first floor sciences classes were broken so the latch couldn’t properly lock. They snuck into the school, making their way down the hallway of the dark, empty school.

“So, what’s so important about this poem?” Frank asked.

“Ryan’s just been scared about graduation and about me leaving so I wrote this poem for him that I just think will make him feel a lot better,” he said.

“Any plans for after the dance?” Frank asked.

“Oh yeah,” Brendon snorted. “I’m gonna take Ryan back to my house and do him all night long.”

Frank laughed, shaking his head.

“Pete’s hoping to get laid tonight,” Brendon said. “He’s really hoping Jamia will finally put out.”

“Hey, she’s a lady, show some respect,” Frank said.

“Have you two talked about this together?” He asked.

“God no,” Frank denied. “We can’t talk about this sort of thing, you know that. Do you know how weird that would be?”

“It doesn’t have to be weird, not if you don’t make it,” he said. “The two of you have been best friends since forever, it really doesn’t have to be weird if you just make sure that it isn’t weird, get comfortable with the topic and with each other, the past is in the past and you two only need to worry about the present now.”

“Yeah, it’s a little more complicated than it sounds,” Frank said. “We’re both just so awkward and weird. I don’t want to add any other awkwardness or weirdness between us.”

“How are things going with you and Gerard?” Brendon asked.

“It’s amazing,” Frank said. “I really like him and I’m not that happiest that he’s moving to New York but we’re gonna be able to make it work, I know we will. He’s gonna be a comic book artist and I’m gonna try and get into psychology. It’s a lot of work but I know that it’ll pay off. It makes good money and I want my future kids to have a good life and not be completely struggling over money and everything.”

“That’s nice but just don’t get so focused on the work and the money that it earns,” he said. “Make sure that you’re doing something that you actually want to do for the rest of your life, something that makes you happy. You can’t get stuck with a job you don’t like, that’ll cause so many problems. Problems with your marriage and problems with your kids. You need to choose a career that you’ll actually enjoy or else you will have so many marital problems.”

“Yeah, I know that,” Frank said. “But I actually do really want to get into psychology, I find the topic extremely interesting and I really like the idea of being able to help people through things. I want to be able to help people. I never really went through a lot of problems but I know my mom did, she suffered with depression when I was younger and I want to be able to help other people like her.”

“Your mom suffered from depression?” Brendon asked curiously.

“Yeah, it was after my dad left us and she was struggling being a single mom and trying to support me and raise me all on her own,” he said. “It was really, really hard on her when he left her for another woman. And I was a child who was hardly sleeping and far too energetic at absolutely ungodly hours of the night. And maybe I was a little difficult growing up but I just didn’t realize as a child how it was all affecting her and how she was feeling and what she was going through.”

“I think it’s really honorable that she was able to raise you all on her own,” he said. “It must’ve been really tough and lonely. Does your mom have a lot of friends and family? Anyone other than you?”

“Not really,” he sighed. “She was an only child and her parents have already passed away. And she doesn’t really have any friends because she’s always working so often. She’s I guess kind of friends with the lady two doors down, she feeds her cat sometimes when she goes to visit her sister in New York. But she’s like eighty and isn’t actually much of a friend.”

“You need to set your mom up on a blind date but with someone who could be a friend,” Brendon said. “Maybe all the moms of our friend group could get together for drinks or something, it would be a great way for your mom to possibly make some friends.”

“Well, when I have my job as a psychologist I’ll be making some better money and I’ll be able to support her a little and she won’t have to work so much,” Frank said. “She always talked about how if she didn’t work so much she would probably take up a salsa class or maybe a cooking class.”

“Ooh, salsa dance or salsa dip?” He asked.

“Obviously salsa dancing you twat,” Frank said. “I really wanna be able to give back to her after every amazing thing that she has done for me. She took care of me for so long and sacrificed a lot, she seriously deserves a lot for all that she does. I bought her a nice pair of earrings and I was thinking that maybe after I graduate I could take her out to a nice dinner, that’s kind of what I’ve been saving up for. Somewhere where you have to wear suits and she gets to wear one of her nice dresses and she gets to use her nice earrings. Is that weird?”

“No, of course it’s not weird to want to take your mom out to a nice dinner,” he said. “More guys should be like you, actually, treating your mom with so much respect and love. It’s really respectable of you, actually. Seriously, your mom is so lucky to have you and the relationship that the two of you have is so amazing.”

“You think so?” Frank asked.

“Frank, any teenage boy would be dying to get out of the house and move away from their moms,” he said. “Most guys are all just wanting to leave as fast as they can so they could go to college and just start partying and drinking like crazy. You, however, are still living with your mom by choice while in college and keeping your job so you could help her pay the bills and the rent.”

“She deserves it,” Frank said. “She’s my mom and I love her a lot.”

They walked towards the locker, looking around into the empty classrooms.

“You’re not gonna come back from California, are you?” Frank asked.

“What are you talking about?” Brendon asked. “Of course I’m going to come back. This is where my family is and where my Ryan is.”

“You’re going to love it in California and you’re not gonna want to come back, just admit it,” he said. “Seriously, you should have a conversation with Ryan about what could happen if you decide to come back. I fully support whatever you choose, whatever makes you happiest. Just make sure that you come back and visit.”

“How could I find it better there than over here?” He asked. “This is where all my siblings are and where my parents are. And Ryan, I love Ryan so much and I don’t wanna leave him. We’re gonna get married. He’s gonna try and get an apartment sophomore or junior year of college and then once I’m done with my schooling I’m going to go and move in with him and we’re planning on getting married soon after that.”

“You guys have some pretty big life plans,” he said.

“Yeah, of course we do,” he said. “What about you? Don’t you and Gerard have some pretty serious plans, too?”

“Yeah, we talk about it but we’ve only been together for about six months,” Frank said. “I’m worry that maybe I’ll say something that scares him off a little bit. I don’t wanna seem, like, too clingy or eager or something. But I do want to spend a long time with him because I really do think that he is the one for me and that we can be really happy together. We haven’t really talked about after college, I don’t know if he’s gonna stay in New York or what but I can’t really leave New Jersey, I love it here so much.”

“Everyone knows that you love New Jersey, I’m pretty sure if you could figure out how then you would fuck it if you could,” he said and Frank hit him on the shoulder. “We all know that you’re just proud of your state and your home and the place where you grew up. It’s cool the way you care about your home so much. You’re dedicated.”

“You know, I think that as much as I love New Jersey it was pretty nice to leave when we went down to Florida,” he said. “I don’t think that I want to move away but I do think that I would like to travel some more. Obviously I’ll have to wait a little while until I’m done with school and I actually have some money but I think it would be really nice to do some traveling. I’d like to travel with Gerard, maybe we’d go to Europe, I’d like to go on a plane. Traveling far would be cool but I also get homesick pretty easily so I don’t think I would stay gone for long.”

They turned down the hall, stopping outside Jamia’s locker.

“Hey, can I ask a question?” Frank asked and Brendon nodded. “I know that you and Ryan have a little bit more of an unusual relationship. Not unusual like it’s bad or anything, just kind of different. You know…”

“I think the term that you are looking for is kinky,” Brendon said.

Frank nodded and blushed. “Yeah, well, Gerard is kind of into that too. I never really have been, maybe that’s because I was always so nervous a lot and scared of hurting people. But, like, down in Florida we turned it up a notch and I kind of whipped him with my belt and I was actually into it. But, like, what do I do to...you know...please him more?”

“Just have a conversation with him,” Brendon said, rolling his eyes. “You know, you can actually talk to him. I can’t just give you advice on how to dominate him by telling you how I dominate Ryan. They are two different people with completely different interests. What Ryan might be into, Gerard might not be. You have to keep that in mind because I can’t tell you what to do because I am trained in pleasuring Ryan, not anyone else. You have to talk to Gerard and ask him about what he’s into.”

Frank sighed and nodded. 

“Yeah, I really didn’t think it would be that easy,” Frank mumbled.

He put in the locker combination, kicking the bottom of it twice when it jammed before he finally managed to pry it open. Brendon grabbed a notebook, searching through it.

“Alright, this is it,” he said.

Frank was about to close the locker when something caught his eye.

“Oh, what’s this?” He asked.

He pushed the books aside and pulled something out of the locker.

“Oh my god, is that what I think it is?” Brendon asked. “Where’s Gerard?”

“He’s at Jamia’s, getting ready for the dance and doing her hair,” he said. “Oh god, I have to call him now.”

Frank fumbled for his phone as he looked at the empty can of red spray paint in his hand.


	32. Chapter 32

Gerard sighed as he sat at the vanity in Jamia’s room, looking in the mirror. He was just glad that Lindsey was in prison before the prom actually happened. This way he could enjoy his dance in peace without having to worry about her ruining everything. He really wanted to give Frank the perfect night. He wanted him to remember it because Frank’s never really been to a dance with someone that he really liked.

“You know, you have really pretty hair,” Jamia said as she ran her fingers through his hair. “I wish I could pull of red hair. Or any color, actually.”

“You know you could look gorgeous even if you shaved half your head and dyed it like a rainbow,” Gerard said. “You’re so beautiful. You should try going blonde. You as a blonde in college would be completely unstoppable. Boys will be passing out at your feet because of how attractive you are.”

Jamia smiled, setting her dress down on the bed next to Gerard’s. Hers was dark blue with little gems around the neckline.

“So, is tonight finally the night where you give it up to Pete?” Gerard asked. “I know he’s pretty excited. You don’t have to be nervous, he’s really sweet and I know that he’ll take it slow and easy if you want. It’s always a little nerve wracking having a new partner.”

His phone buzzed with a call and Jamia looked at it where it was charging on the other side of the room. Jamia looked at Frank’s contact name and declined the call.

“Just a random number from someone in Texas,” Jamia said, turning the phone off.

“God, aren’t random calls so annoying? Especially the sales calls. Like, what do you mean my credit card has a debt on it, I don’t even have a damn credit card,” he said. “So, anyways, you and Pete?”

“You know, I don’t know, I don’t think I really want to do it with him,” she said. “Pete is cute and nice and all but he’s just not my type.”

Gerard frowned, turning around to look at her.

“What do you mean? I thought you really liked him?” He said.

“It’s just not right,” she said. 

“Well, why are you going to the prom with him if you don’t really like him?” He asked. “Why have you been dating him for so long? You could have ended things a long time ago.”

“It’s just complicated, I just needed to date him,” she said. “Just so that way nobody would look at me twice. It would look suspicious being so close to Frank and not having a boyfriend, you might think that it was me all along.”

“I might think what was you?” Gerard asked, frowning in confusion.

“Hey, has Frank ever told you about his ex-girlfriend?” She asked.

Gerard shrugged as he turned back around. God, he was so confused.

“Not really,” he said. “Just that she was nice and stuff but they just weren’t a pair and they decided it would be best to end things. She died in a car accident, unfortunately.”

“It wasn’t a very mutual ending,” Jamia said with a snort, although there wasn’t anything funny about her tone. “It was actually pretty horrific for that girl. He broke her heart and didn’t even care, he just pretended like he didn’t do anything.”

“You’re sure we’re talking about the same Frank here?” He asked. “That just doesn’t sound like him. He would never intentionally break someone’s heart. He probably just didn’t realize that he hurt her.”

“Oh yeah, same Frank. Mister Frank Anthony Iero Junior,” she said. “I’m surprised he hasn’t told you more about her.”

“It was in the past,” Gerard said with a shrug as he twirled one of her makeup brushes in his fingers. “Besides, she’s dead anyways. Hey, bring me your dress so I can match your eyeshadow to the fabric.”

Jamia started laughing and Gerard looked at her in confusion in the mirror. 

“I’m not, like, superstitious or anything but I really don’t think you should be laughing at the dead,” he said. “It’s pretty tragic what happened, she was young and she had so much to live for but it was all taken away because someone decided that a text message was more important than her life.”

“It’s not that, it’s just that Frank is such a shitty liar,” she said. 

“What is he lying about?” Gerard asked. 

“God, you don’t even know,” she mumbled. “You’re like a sad puppy. A poor, sad puppy.”

Gerard frowned in confusion, plugging in the curling iron so he could do her hair.

“You’re acting weird, did you already pregame?” he asked.

“No, it’s just complicated,” she said. “You’re just so naive, so fucking stupid.”

“Hey, Mia, that’s kinda rude,” he said. “I know I’m stupid but, like, why would you say that?”

“Because Frank is a liar and you’ve just been eating up all of his bullshit,” she said.

“I don’t get it, what is he lying about?” Gerard asked.

“His ex-girlfriend isn’t dead, she never got into a car accident, he just didn’t want you to mention her at all and he didn’t want you to talk about her,” Jamia said. “Which was totally disrespectful of him to just say she was dead. Like, I’m right here, I’m not dead.”

Gerard frowned, turning around to look at her.

“Wait, the two of you dated?” He asked.

“Yeah, I really liked him, I thought he liked me too,” she said. “But apparently he just wanted to try things out and when he decided he didn’t like me after taking my virginity he just ditched me and said we could still be friends. It was never really the same after that, though. I still liked him and he didn’t even notice me. And then you came along and stole him from me right when I was about to win him back.”

“I’m sorry, Mia, but if he chose to date me then I don’t think that you really had a chance of winning him back,” he said. “But you’re so smart and pretty, you’re gonna find someone who loves you so much.

“You don’t get it, I don’t want someone else, I want Frank,” Jamia said.

She picked up the curling iron and touched it to Gerard’s arm. He hissed in pain, jumping up to his feet.

“What the fuck, Jamia!” He shouted.

“You should have just listened to my letters, Gerard, you should have just left or else it wouldn’t have had to come to this,” she said.

“You were the one sending those?” Gerard asked. “I-I have Lindsey in jail right now because I thought that she was the one who was sending them to me.”

“It was so easy to frame her,” she said. “I mean, who would believe the psychotic one?”

“She isn’t psychotic,” he denied. “You made me throw my own best friend into jail.”

“Yeah, like she didn’t already release your sex tapes from when you were a minor,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I’ll give you one last chance, though. You need to leave right now and never, ever come back here.”

“Do you really think you could just scare me off?” Gerard asked. “I’ve put up with so many two-faced bitches like you and I don’t back down easy. I am not going to break up with the boy I love just because you can’t get over the two week relationship that you had.”

Jamia nodded, taking a deep breath. She reached into the drawer of her vanity and pulled out a large kitchen knife.

“Wh-what do you think you’re doing?” Gerard asked. “Come on, Jamia, put that down.”

“I want Frank,” she stated. “And you have to be out of the picture.”

Jamia lunged at him, slicing his forearm as he blocked her.

“Stop!” Gerard shouted.

He felt a sharp pain in his stomach as she stabbed him but he managed to push her down and run out the door. He got to the backdoor and ran out, running into the trees of the woods behind her house.

“Help!” He screamed. “Someone help me!”

His feet stung as he stepped barefoot on twigs and rocks but none of that even mattered. Cold air filled his lungs, exhaling it into vapor. Something stabbed him in the back and he fell to the ground, crying out in pain. It happened over and over, Jamia standing over him with the knife.

“He is mine,” she stated before walking off back to the house.

Gerard laid on the ground and gasped, staring up at the grey skies between the branches of blossoming leafs. It was gonna rain soon. He could hardly move, he felt so tired and weak. So he laid there, calling out for help as he began bleeding to death.

-+-

Frank was beginning to panic when Gerard didn’t answer his phone, it was going straight to voicemail. Brendon drove them straight over to Jamia’s house. He knew his boyfriend was probably fine, Jamia would never hurt a soul. He knew her better than he knew anyone.

“Hey, where’s Gerard?” Frank asked when Jamia opened the door.

She was in sweatpants and a t-shirt, hair wet to indicate she most likely just got out of the shower.

“Frankie, you’re not supposed to be here for another hour, I’m not ready yet,” she said.

“Jamia, where is Gerard?” Frank repeated.

“He threw up, he was feeling ill for some reason,” she said. “He decided to go home and rest instead of going to the dance. Didn’t he tell you this?”

Frank scowled and brendon pulled out the cans of spray paint.

“What? Do you wanna paint my house or something?” she asked.

“These are the same spray paints used to paint Gerard’s lawn, you were the one threatening him,” Brendon said.

“What? I would never do that,” she denied. “Frankie, come on, tell him that I would never do something like that.”

“I’m going to go find Gerard,” Frank said.

The two walked down the driveway when they heard a faint sound in the distance. They followed it curiously into the woods, ducking under branches along the way. Frank saw a body laying in the distance and he ran over to find Gerard shaking and covered in blood.

“Oh my god, oh fuck,” Frank whimpered. “Baby, baby, it’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna get you help.”

He turned to tell Brendon to call the police but thankfully he was already on the phone. That’s when he saw a figure walk up behind brendon and drag a knife across his throat. Frank screamed as he watched his friend’s body drop to the ground.

“What are you doing?!” He shrieked. “H-how could you do this?!”

“We can be together, Frank, I love you so much,” she said.

Frank stood up, shaking his head as he cried.

“Mia, you have to stop, you have to put the knife down,” he said.

“We can be together,” she repeated.

“No, we can’t,” he denied. “I’m with Gerard, Jamia. I love him. But you’re my best friend and I love you too. You have to stop. Put the knife down.”

Jamia cried as she shook her head.

“I need you,” she said. “And I’m going to have you.”

She took a step closer to him before stabbing the knife into his stomach. Frank gasped, trying to shove her away. She stabbed him over and over again, letting him fall to the ground. Frank watched as she then lifted the knife up and proceeded to slit her own throat.

“Baby, baby, it’s gonna be okay,” Frank whispered, crawling to Gerard. “We’re gonna be okay.”

Gerard was gasping, barely able to take in shallow breaths. 

“Come on, you’ve gotta stay with me,” Frank cried.

He curled up close to Gerard, closing his eyes as they both passed out together in each others arms.


	33. Epilogue

Ryan was sitting on his stairs, dressed in his suit as he waited for his boyfriend. But a few hours passed and he still hadn’t shown up, or even bothered to answer his phone. He was on the verge of tears at this point.

“I think you’re being stood up,” Jordan, Ryan’s brother, said.

Ryan looked down at his ring, shaking his head. Brendon would never just stand him up, he knew that. Something was wrong, he just needed to figure out what.

-+-

The police showed up at the Nestor household after tracking the call, which was cut off pretty quickly. They knocked but nobody answered the door. Officer Hurley noticed footprints in the dirt and he followed them back to the woods with his partner.

“It was probably just some baby who called, babies accidentally call all the time,” Officer Biersack said.

“You know we have to check to make sure,” he said. “Is anyone out here?”

They went deeper into the woods and found bodies laying in the woods. There were four in total, two with slit throats and two cuddled together with stab wounds.

“O-oh my god, holy shit,” he said.

Officer Biersack quickly called for backup. They marked off the area with yellow police line tape before searching the bodies.

“We need to move fast, it’s going to rain soon and wash away all the evidence,” Detective Orzechowski said as she was lead down the path. “Do we have IDs on the body?”

“Two had wallets with driver’s license in them, a mister Frank Iero and Brendon Urie,” Officer Biersack said. “Another had her phone, the ID on the phone was for Jamia Nestor. The last one has no form of identification.”

They got to the scene and the detective froze before sighing. 

“It’s Gerard Way,” she said quietly. “The last body belongs to Gerard Way.”

People moved around, taking pictures and picking up evidence.

“So, someone came and murdered four teenagers out in the woods?” Officer Hurley asked.

“No,” she denied. “There were only four sets of footprints and none of them are leaving. One of these four is the killer, we just need to figure out which one.”

“How will we do that?” Officer Biersack asked.

“Autopsy report will show the angles of incisions to find out which one was self-inflicted,” she said. “Please keep up, we don’t have a lot of time. You should have learned the basics of this. Make sure you’re using gloves when picking up the knife. Have we gotten into the Nestor house?”

“Back door was left open, we have people in there collecting evidence as we speak,” Officer Hurley said.

“Alright, let’s get to work,” Detective Orzechowski said, pulling apart Frank and Gerard’s dead bodies.

-+-

Linda left the house before Frank did, she’s been working a shift since noon. When she got home that night she knew Frank wouldn’t be back for another hour from the dance and she thought about staying up but she’s been on her feet all day and decided to just crawl into bed and see him in the morning.

She was woken up to knocking and the clock on her nightstand said it was two in the morning. She yawned, getting up. She peeked into Frank’s room and found it empty but his suit was laid out in the bed.

“Hello?” Linda asked over the intercom.

“It’s the New Jersey police, can we please come up?” Someone asked.

She yawned, buzzing them in. They came up to her apartment and sat down on the couch.

“I’m sorry, officers, is there something wrong?” She asked. “Is this about Frank? He isn’t here, I think he dropped his suit off and went to go stay the night at his boyfriend’s house. I could go call him, let me just grab my phone.”

She went to stand up but they shook their heads, making her sit back down.

“Is this not about Frank?” She asked.

A million thoughts went through her head, she didn’t know what to do. What if they were here because of that one time when Frank was two and she accidentally locked him in the car? What if they were declaring her an unfit mother and taking him away from her?

“This...this is about him,” he said. “I’m Officer Hurley and this is Officer Biersack.”

Oh god, did they catch him smoking pot or drinking?

“He’s a good kid,” linda said. “Whatever he did he didn’t mean to, he’s a really good kid. He’s got a scholarship and everything.”

“Ma’am, w-we don’t really know how to tell you this,” Officer Hurley said.

“Would you like some tea?” She offered. “Or maybe some coffee?”

“Ma’am, your son, Frank Iero, is...dead,” Officer Biersack said quietly.

Linda froze, shaking her head.

“No, no he’s not,” she denied. “He went to the prom tonight with his friends and his boyfriend, Gerard.”

“When was the last time you spoke to your son?” he asked.

“Th-this morning before I left for work,” she said.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Iero, but your son never made it to the prom,” Officer Biersack said. “We are still trying to get to the bottom of what happened but we found your son’s body in the backyard of Jamia Nestor, does your son know her?”

“Yeah, she’s his best friend,” Linda whispered. “Wh-what happened?”

“We received a call from that location but nobody said anything on the other line,” he said. “When we went to investigate we...we found your son’s body. He had been stabbed to death.”

Linda let out a sob, shaking her head.

“N-not my baby, you have the wrong kid,” she denied. “Frankie is only eighteen.”

“His body was found with three others, Jamia Nestor, Brendon Urie and Gerard Way,” he said.

“Who did this to them?” Linda cried. “Wh-who hurt my baby?”

“We don’t know yet, we aren’t entirely sure of the situation,” he said. “We are so sorry for your loss. I-is there someone we could call?”

Linda shook her head, sobbing heavily. They left her alone and Linda could hardly breath. She just gasped and sobbed, going into Frank’s room. She got Mr. Waffles out of Frank’s closet, Frank’s favorite stuffed animal from when he was a kid. She collapsed into Frank’s bed, sobbing and shaking.

-+-

“I told him I hated him,” mikey sobbed. “It’s the last thing I ever said to him and it was a week ago. I told him that I hated him.”

Donna wrapped an arm around his shoulders as they walked to the park. There was a huge memorial service, pretty much the whole town was here. There were lights and candles all over, music playing softly. Three big pictures were at the front, pictures of Gerard, Frank and Brendon.

It was discovered after the autopsy that Jamia’s wounds were the only ones that were self-inflicted. And her diary told a very detailed story of her sending the notes, framing Lindsey and even her plans to murder Gerard. So far, the Nestor’s have not shown their faces to the public yet due to the humiliation and shame of having their daughter murder three innocent boys. There’s even a for sale sign on their front yard.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” someone said, shaking both Donna and Donald’s hands.

“He thinks I hate him,” Mikey cried.

“He knows you don’t,” Donald whispered. “He knows you love him and he loves you too.”

Linda could hardly stand, she just kneeled on the ground in front of Frank’s picture as she sobbed. She had lost everything now. Her son was the only thing that she had left. She loved her son more than anything. She didn’t have friends or family. All she had was Frank. She needed him. But he was taken away from her.

Donna kneeled beside her, wrapping her arms around her. They both sobbed together over their lost sons. They needed to support each other. 

Ryan was crying with Brendon’s family, holding his sister’s, Kyla, hand. All the plans they once had were over. They were all gone. They were supposed to get married in four years then have children in six. They were supposed to be happy together. They were supposed to live happily ever after.

Pete was depressed and confused. All this time he was being used. He lost three of his friends. He was so angry at himself, he should have seen some kind of sign from Jamia. Maybe if he had seen some kind of sign he would have been able to save his friends.

Nobody in town could believe what happened. They knew they didn’t live in the nicest town but they never expected something like this to happen, a triple murder-homicide. 

Josh was here and Debby wanted to come to the big memorial service but he didn’t think she should go. She just had a baby two weeks prior and she was tired and stressed and dealing with all these emotions. He knew that having her go to this memorial would only break her even more.

It was a sad day for the whole town. They were all quiet, singing along with the choir. The pitter pattering of rain started up, making the day seem even more gloomy than it already was. The town all cried together after the three souls who were lost, brutally murdered by their own friend’s hands. They needed to mourn together and grieve, they had to move on over the loss of their own.


End file.
